MKR Winner's Triumph My Secret Battle With Food

She’s cooking up a healthy future now

- Ellen Mackenzie

Weighing a shocking 49kg, Eden McPhillips was in the grip of a terrifying eating disorder three years ago. But fast-forward to 2018 and the Hamilton beauty is happier and healthier than ever after being crowned the winner of My Kitchen Rules New Zealand alongside her dad Liam.

“It’s pretty unreal,” smiles the 22-year-old cook. “I went through some dark stuff, so thinking back to then and how my life has transformed, I never would have imagined it.”

Eden still loves to work out and eat healthily – she even works full-time as a vegan baker – but now at 69kg, she doesn’t let food and diets rule her world any more.

“It’s given me a new outlook on life and I appreciate food more than I ever have, so it is pretty cool that I’m able to say I went from that to winning MKR,” she explains.

No-one could be prouder of her journey than her father Liam, 46, and despite the fact that the dynamic duo are heading home with $100,000 of prize money, he hasn’t even thought about the cash.