MasterChef Australia’s Julie Goodwin recalls entering mental health facility

Julie Goodwin has revealed how she struggled with feelings of shame when she entered a mental health facility last year. 

The MasterChef Australia star told News Corp on Sunday that she was wracked with ‘guilt’ at first.   

‘I was really blown away by the level of shame that was felt by the other patients in the hospital over being there,’ the 51-year-old said. 

‘Their guilt in there. And I felt it too, but it took looking at these other people for me to think “Why would you feel ashamed of being here?” 

‘I just wanted to talk about it so some of those guys didn’t have to feel so guilty and so ashamed of it. It’s just the human condition,’ she added.

Julie has admitted she previously struggled to set foot in the kitchen due mental health struggles following her momentous MasterChef win in 2009. 

‘I had reached a point in my life where I had lost my joy,’ she said tearfully during a recent episode of MasterChef Australia: Fans v Faves. 

Reflecting on her post-MasterChef life, Julie said, ‘I’ve been able to publish six cookbooks, I’ve had lots of fun doing television programs. Then I moved into radio. I spent four years on a breakfast show along with my cooking school, which I really love as well.’

‘But I guess… The past 13 years hasn’t all been amazing highs. There have been some struggles as well. I’ve really had to do some serious assessment of my mental health and wellbeing. I had reached a point in my life where I had lost my joy.’

‘And I had to give up my job on the radio. I couldn’t do that anymore. And I actually couldn’t set foot in my kitchen. I think maybe I have done everything that I was here to do. And I have achieved everything that’s possible for me to achieve.’

‘So this for me is an opportunity just to see if there is another chapter, you know. If there’s more,’ said Julie with tears in her eyes.

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 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.