Your time starts now: food and fame, failure and freedom: the life story of Australia’s first MasterChef. Julie Goodwin. 2024.

Julie Goodwin was catapulted into our hearts as the first-ever winner of MasterChef Australia. In many ways her win was unlikely. As a child Julie adored music and art, but her career began in youth work, including ina juvenile detention centre. After her three sons were born, Julie and her husband started an IT business.

Then came MasterChef - a record-breaking juggernaut of a show. The attention and opportunities that flowed from Julie’s win were thrilling and overwhelming. She became a columnist for Australian Women’s Weekly, a presenter on Today, published numerous cookbooks and made appearances on many shows including facing off with snakes and alligators on I’m a Celebrity…….Get Me Out of Here! For years she co-hosted an award-winning breakfast radio show, and she opened a thriving cooking school.

It was by all appearances a successful, rewarding life. But under the surface, pressure from Julie’s worlds was taking its toll. Struggling with depression, anxiety and addiction, with bushfires blazing and lockdowns looming, Julie found herself hospitalised in a mental health unit.