JULIE GOODWIN TELLS HOW LOVE SAVED ME

MasterChef winner Julie opens up about why she really had to quit her dream radio job

It was no secret to those who love her that 2009 MasterChef winner Julie Goodwin has been struggling for “years” with her mental health after finding fame on the show and living the dream after making millions from her passion.

She became a household name when she won the first season of MasterChef, and soon had a book deal, a column in The Australian Women’s Weekly and her own TV show, before realising her lifelong ambition to open a cooking school, Julie’s Place.

But her extraordinary success, which included co-hosting a breakfast show on Star 104.5 for the past four years on the NSW Central Coast – where she lives with her husband Michael and three sons, Joe, Tom and Paddy – came with enormous pressure and stress.

And late last year it all became too much for this lovable mum-turned-celebrity who finally admitted to herself and her family that she needed help to deal with the personal “crisis” she was experiencing.

“It’s with real sadness that I’ve made the difficult decision to step away from my breakfast role, but I’ve had to weigh up my family, my cooking school and life balance priorities, and hope I’m doing the right thing,” she said in a statement in December.