Masterchef Eloise in secret cancer battle
The Masterchef star was forced to put her life on hold as cancer ripped through her family
For years, Masterchef Australia has been Eloise Praino’s dream. Having auditioned for the debut season in 2009, she continued to apply each year in the hope of winning a coveted apron.
But in 2012 that dream was forced to take a back seat as first her father, Lucio, and then, two years later, her mother, Dorina, were diagnosed with cancer.
“Dad had leukaemia and he was really, really sick for a few months,” Eloise, 32, tells Woman’s Day. Luckily, Lucio caught things early and, with the help of doctors, he recovered relatively quickly and has been “in the clear for a couple of years now.”
Things were finally looking up, but just as the family got back on their feet, they were hit with another blow when Dorina was diagnosed with breast cancer at the end of 2014.
“It was one to the next, it was really awful,” recalls Eloise. “My parents are divorced and because my dad has remarried, when he was sick he still had my stepmummum to help look after him. But Mum um is on her own, so when she wasas diagnosed I moved in with her.” r.”
Eloise spent 18 months caring for her mother during her treatment, which again saw her put her own dreams on the back burner. The treatment was gruelling, says Eloise. “She had a mastectomy and chemo for 18 months, and she’s about to have her final lot of reconstructive surgery. But the good news is, she’s in remission.”
That meant Eloise, who works as a law clerk, could finally audition for Masterchef again this year – and this time she not only made it to the top 24, but she won the very first immunity pin last week and is a hot favourite to win!
“I had a run of crappy years and then everything towards last year was falling into place,” she says of what inspired her to give the hit show another try.
“I knew good things were coming my way, so I thought there was no harm in giving it a crack. I can’t believe I’m here!”
And Masterchef isn’t the only good thing to come Eloise’s way of late – she’s also landed herself a loving boyfriend!
SheSh dated construction worker Dylan,Dylan also 32, for a few months aroundaroun the time her dad fell sick but called it off due to the badba timing. Now the pair have reconnected.re
“We have known each o other for four years and been t together for close to a year a and a half,” she says. “It’s d definitely a long-term thing.”