Fans shocked at MasterChef’s Julie Goodwin ‘shaky’ state as she makes her return to show

Julie Goodwin shocked MasterChef viewers on Monday night as she made her big return to the show after her arrest for drink driving and mental health struggles.

The cook, 51, was charged with drink driving twice over the legal limit four years ago, and later revealed she had been suffering from depression for which she sought treatment at a psychiatric facility.

Julie was wracked with nerves as she presented her Lebanese Shish Tawook dish to judges Andy Allen, Melissa Leong and Jock Zonfrillo, and fans said she looked ‘stressed’.

The mother of three, who won her season back in 2009, was shaking though most of the episode and even cut her finger.

Julie fought back tears as she explained she felt a rush of the adrenaline while finding her her feet in the kitchen after several years of struggle. 

‘I loved it, and I felt that fantastic adrenaline rush, but also those nerves, man, they just came back like no time had passed at all,’ she told the judges. 

She clasped her hands nervously as she awaited their judges response to her dish.

Judge Jock was quick to offer her some encouragement. 

‘You’re a competent cook, clearly, right? I just want to talk about what I’m feeling from you, watching you cook today and watching you stand now,’ Jock said. 

He said he thought since Julie was first ever winner of the show, she felt she wasn’t as good as other winners who came after her. 

Julie agreed, saying it had been playing on her mind.

Jock comforted her by telling her, ‘I need you to just let it wash through your brain. You’re not an OG. You’re a winner.

‘But what you are, more importantly, is a classic. Okay? And classics never get old. Classics are very hard to beat.’

Julie was clearly taken aback by the encouragement. 

Melissa called the dish ‘everything it should have been’ and said ‘everything had a place’.

Andy described the trio of judges as a ‘tight-knit family crowded round fighting for a chance to get the last skewer’.

‘Julie, you have every bit as much chance of your name on that trophy again. And with food that tastes that good and looks that good… I’m banking on it,’ Jock said. 

The champion chef was then given a round of applause. 

Julie sent shock waves through the showbiz world four years ago when she was charged with drink driving twice over the legal limit.

She was caught after trying to evade a police breath test.

After fronting up at court with her husband and acknowledging it was ‘an error in judgment’ and ‘accepting full responsibility’, Julie was fined $600 and disqualified from driving for six months.

She later revealed she had been suffering from depression and spent five weeks in a mental health facility. 

Julie spoke about about her harrowing battle with depression in an interview with the Australian Women’s Weekly back in 2020.

She said she found comfort in her granddaughter, Delilah, one. 

‘In the midst of that really awful time I had decided that I was done,’ Julie told the publication. 

‘I had nothing left to do, my work here was done. That’s where I found myself. That landed me in hospital a bunch of times.

‘So, I’m trying to figure out if my life here is not done, then what the hell is it? Delilah is obviously a massive part of that. She’s a tiny little human who I want to be around for,’ she added. 

Julie famously beat runner-up Poh Ling Yeow on the popular cooking show with her hearty home recipes in 2009.

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MasterChef Australia continues Tuesday at 7.30pm on Channel 10