MALISSA'S SECRET STRUGGLE - 'IT WAS A BATTLE EVERY DAY' 79

The contestant went through hell to achieve her culinary dreams

- Lucy Croke.

Ever since she was young, MasterChef Australia contestant Malissa Fedele has suffered from crippling anxiety and panic attacks, which she feared were holding her back in life.

“It was a battle every day,” confesses the 28-year-old from Adelaide. “I had to fight through those negative emotions and get over that self-doubt.”

Coming from a large, loud Italian family who owned a fruit and vege shop, where she and her siblings worked, Malissa has always had a love of food. She fi nds making pasta and sauces from scratch particularly therapeutic.