MasterChef Australia: Where are the past winners now?

Sixteen years ago, mum of three Julie Goodwin impressed the judges with her family-style cooking and took out the title of Australia’s very first MasterChef.

After her win, Julie quit her job in IT and went on to write several cookbooks, worked in both radio and TV (including a stint on I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! in 2015), and even launched her own cooking school (sign us up).

“None of this would have been possible without MasterChef,” she has said previously.

“To think I won a cooking competition and now work in breakfast radio is wonderful, and I’m really enjoying this new chapter!”

Julie returned to MasterChef in 2012 for All Stars and once more in 2022 for Fans vs Favourites where she finished fifth.

In 2024, she released her memoir ‘Your Time Starts Now’ and also competed in Dancing with the Stars Australia.

Believe it or not, prior to winning MasterChef, Adam was actually working as a highly paid lawyer in Tokyo, a job which he quit to compete on the reality show.

We are sure that it comes as no surprise that Adam hasn’t looked back!

“I’ve been lucky enough that my series for SBS, Destination Flavour, has been running now for six seasons,” he said in 2018.

This celebrity chef is also a proud father of three – Christopher, Anna, and Benji – whom he shares with his wife Asami.

Adam also writes a column for Good Food Australia and Sunday Life Australia, and in 2022 joined the ABC panel show Tomorrow Tonight.

In April 2021, he began starring in his own television cooking and talk series, The Cook Up with Adam Liaw. In 2023, the series aired its 500th episode, making it SBS’s largest ever commissioned program.

In May 2022, he also released a seven-part podcast series on Audible called How Taste Changed the World.

More recently, he launched Everyday – a “practical dinnerware range specifically for modern life.”

The 2010 winner is also the author of nine cookbooks and even presented a private barbecue for King Charles and Queen Camilla when they came to Australia in 2024.

After winning her season of MasterChef in 2011, Kate travelled the country as an ambassador for the Cancer Council’s Eat It to Beat It program.

“The life experiences have been more rewarding than the prize money,” the mum-of-three said. Since the show, she’s also bought a hobby farm in Orange, NSW.

“We don’t eat off the land entirely, but the ultimate goal would be to do more of that.”

In 2012, she published a cooking book called The Sweet Life.

According to her LinkedIn profile, as of 2024, she was working as a teacher at Orange Anglican Grammar School.

This name needs no introduction… After taking out the top spot, Andy famously returned as one of the show’s judges alongside Jock Zonfrillo and Melissa Leong in 2020.

He also co-owns popular restaurant Three Blue Ducks (which has five separate locations), has written the cookbook The Next Element, and even appeared as a co-host in the 2021 series Three Blue Ducks, based on travelling across the country to seek inspiration for new dishes for his restaurant.

In 2018, his restaurant was awarded a Chef’s Hat, making Andy the first MasterChef Australia contestant to be awarded the highly sought-after honour.

In October 2022, Andy also married his long-time love, Alex Davey.

He has continued to be a MasterChef judge alongside Poh Ling Yeow, Sofia Levin, and Jean-Christophe Novelli.

After taking out the coveted title, the former town planner has since published her own cookbook and co-hosted a daily cooking show My Market Kitchen, with her 2013 MasterChef runner-up Lynton Tapp from 2013 to 2019.

“I don’t have a restaurant because I am a bit risk-averse,” she has said previously.

“However, the show is really fun, and the best part is I get to do it with my best mate!”

She is also a regular contributor to Eat Well Magazine.

Since scooping the $250,000 prize money, Brent has travelled the world, trying to make a positive impact with his knowledge of food.

“Being exposed to starvation in foreign countries made me recognise the major flaws in the global food ecosystem,” he says.

He also wrote a cookbook, Dig In! filled to the brim with recipes for those who want to make a delicious dish with minimal effort.

Today, he is the Chief Research and Development Officer at Vitrafy Life Sciences, which he co-founded while studying life science at Harvard University.

Less than a month after winning, Billie moved to England to work at Heston Blumenthal’s Michelin-starred The Fat Duck restaurant.

“Working there was fantastic, but it wasn’t what I wanted long-term,” she said, revealing her goal to open a restaurant.

“At the moment, I’m on the family farm making cheese with Mum. I’m still cooking, but I don’t want to rush into anything!”

In 2022, Billie returned to the MasterChef kitchen to star alongside fellow former winner Julie in Fans vs Favourites…and WON the title for a second time around.

Talk about impressive!

While she dreamed of opening a farm café after her win, educator Elena decided to continue her work with special needs students, teaching them leadership, hospitality skills, and home economics.

“To know I’m giving something to people who are going to be our future leaders, and giving them strength, confidence, and life skills to help them move forward, that’s been the biggest highlight,” she said.

In 2019, Elena co-hosted My Market Kitchen alongside season ten finalist Khanh Ong until they were both replaced by chef Ben O’Donoghue in 2020.

After winning by a single point, Diana used her prize money to open a pop-up restaurant in Melbourne, Chanteen.

“It serves authentic Malaysian street food, it’s reasonably priced, and everything is cooked to order,” said Diana, who’s also designed in-flight menus for Malaysia Airlines.

“I never thought the day would come that I’d fly to London and eat my own food on the flight!” she laughed.

She hosted the Turning Point podcast about her success journey and helping others find theirs. Diana also owns the pre-made dumplings and dim sims brand Golden Wok.

In 2019, Asia Unplated with Diana Chan was also launched on SBS Demand.

Most recently, she competed in the reboot of Ready, Steady, Cook.

After taking out the 2018 title, Sashi has been “living the dream”.

While traveling in India shortly after, he spoke to The Telegraph, where he revealed he had been given “lots of offers”.

“In the short term, I am keeping things fluid. Since winning MasterChef, I have had a lot of offers. I am trying out whatever I like,” he said.

Upon returning, he opened a series of pop-up restaurants called GAJA by Sashi. He eventually settled down in Adelaide and opened a full-time GAJA along with an express version.

Sashi also launched home chef kits called Sashi’s Secret and opened a fine-dining restaurant, The Pandan Club, in India in late 2022.

He also joined Julie and Billie for the Fans and Favourites spin-off, placing in 19th place.

At 22 years old, Larissa became the youngest-ever winner of MasterChef Australia in 2019 and was something of a dessert queen.

But the budding chef decided to keep things close to home by helping out at her family’s café, Wildpear, in the northwest Sydney suburb of Dural.

Following her win six years ago, Larissa married her partner Luke, and they have welcomed their first child into the world.

She also has an active presence on social media where she shares her recipes with her tens of thousands of followers.

Emelia took out the toughest season of MasterChef to date in Back To Win, an All-Stars edition of the series.

After placing third in season six in 2014, Emelia returned and beat out bestie Laura Sharrad and dessert king Reynold Poernomo for the top prize.

Despite the huge win, Emelia kept her celebration small, mostly thanks to Melbourne’s strict second-wave lockdown.

“I planned a viewing party, but we’re in lockdown again, so I had to cancel it. It was what it was, but it was still so exciting,” she previously told our sister publication Now To Love.

Since her win, she has welcomed a daughter in 2021 and a son in 2023, and has become an ambassador for Queen Fine Foods.

She also released her first book, First, Cream the Butter and Sugar, in November 2022, and Some of My Best Friends Are Cookies in 2024.

He was a fan favourite early on, and Justin Narayan cooked his way to victory in 2021, beating runners-up Pete Campbell and Kishwar Chowdhury.

To make matters even sweeter, not long after his win, Justin tied the knot with his fiancée Esther in a stunning ceremony that was also attended by several of his MasterChef co-stars.

“It was genuinely the best day of my life; winning MasterChef was awesome, but getting married was a huge highlight – it’s been a crazy year, so who knows what’s next,” Justin told our sister publication TV WEEK.

In the time since his exciting victory, he has been busy creating digital recipe content for his social media accounts to share with his followers.

Two years on from his win, Justin revealed to Yahoo that he didn’t spend any of his prize money on himself, instead donating it to those in need.

“I probably should have, in retrospect,” he said.

“But I was kind of like, I’m not going to buy anything flash, I’m not going to do anything, and I don’t have any regrets with it. Sometimes I’m like, ‘Why did I give it away? I could’ve bought this now,’ but at the same time, I never wanted the money to control me. I always want to be generous with it. There’s heaps more where it came from. Just be generous, keep helping people, and things work out.”

“The way I’m wired, I wanted to be generous with it, so I ended up donating a lot of it and giving some away to some people that I thought needed it more than I. And then made some investments with the rest of it.”

Special mention to the winner of Celebrity MasterChef 2021, former AFL player Nick Riewoldt.

The athlete was able to give the $100,000 cash prize to his charity, Maddie Riewoldt’s Vision, which he co-founded after the tragic passing of his sister Maddie in 2015.

After ten nail-biting weeks and 50 episodes, father of two Brent Draper joined the ranks of MasterChef winners in 2023. 

Almost two months on, Brent took to his Instagram stories to reveal what he would be spending his $250,000 prize money on. 

“Obviously, I bought a boat, everyone knows that,” Brent joked. “That was the one little thing that I spent on for myself…”

“The rest we [he and wife Shonleigh] are going to put into business and just set up our lives!”

In September 2023, Brent and his wife launched their podcast Behind the Drapes where they discuss all things marriage, MasterChef, parenting, travel, business, and more.

For the inaugural season of MasterChef Dessert Masters in 2023, it was renowned pastry chef and Tarts Anon founder Gareth Whitton who emerged victorious, beating out MasterChef alumni Jess Liemantara and Reynold Poernomo in the finale.

In the year since his win, Gareth is still busy making pastries at Tarts Anon and released his first cookbook Tarts Anon: Sweet and Savoury Tart Brilliance in 2024. 

When Nat went on MasterChef in 2024, she secured a win before she took out the title – she won the chance to work with Jamie Oliver in London.

“Jamie is now one of the special few that support me, energises me, and make me feel like all that I want to do is totally achievable. For that, I am forever grateful,” she said in an Instagram post after the experience.

Since then, she has finessed her skills in various kitchens, had one of her dishes served at The Crown in Melbourne, and is due to release her debut cookbook THAI: Anywhere and Everywhere in October.

Her MasterChef experience is something she holds close to her heart.

“This victory is a collective triumph, a testament to the power of community, friendship, and the bonds forged over shared meals,” she wrote in an Instagram post after her win. “As I take the next steps into this incredible food journey, I invite you to tune in. This journey has ignited my heart.”