Julie Goodwin: ‘I have so much hope for this generation of young men’

Julie Goodwin is a cookbook author and chef best known for winning MasterChef Australia in 2009. The 52-year-old opens up about her close relationship with her stepfather, past boyfriends, and raising three sons.

“I never expected to get married, but I did think I’d become a mum one day.”

My maternal grandfather, Poppy Roy, died when my mum, Marleen, was 16. He was spoken about with so much love. He was a larrikin carpenter who built caravans for a hobby. The one he built in 1956 has been registered and roadworthy ever since he died. I went around Australia in it when I was 11.

Poppy Roy died of stomach cancer – it was sudden. He thought he had an ulcer but by the time he was diagnosed correctly it was too late. My nan, Edna, was only in her 40s when he passed and she never dated another man. She died at 90. Pop was the love of her life and she spoke about him all the time.

My father left the scene when I was three and Mum remarried Tony Hunt when I was seven. They’ve been married for 45 years and are known among their friends as Lovey and Dovey.

Tony is “Dad” to me – most of my friends didn’t know he was my stepdad when I was growing up. He raised me and taught me so much in life and I admire him for his fantastic work ethic. He never has a bad word to say about anybody.

I was nerdy and studious and didn’t hang around any boys at school. I was a clarinet player in the Hornsby Concert Band until I was 16. I had a crush on the French horn player. I thought he was pretty cute but never told him. He was handsome and confident and I wasn’t.

I had my first boyfriend at around 16, but it didn’t last long. I had a sweet boyfriend after him who liked to take me on long walks, followed by a jerk boyfriend who was absolutely horrible.

When I finished year 12 at Hornsby Girls High School, where I was school captain, I joined the St Vincent de Paul’s Youth Group. It comprised mostly boys, and it’s where I met my husband Mick in 1989. We started dating and have now known each other for 34 years and been married for 28.

The boys in the youth group were rough-and-tumble fellas. I saw vulnerable and kind-hearted men who used to do blanket drives in the winter and hand out sandwiches to homeless people. They had hearts of gold.

Mick reminds me of my dad, Tony – a kind person with a beautiful sense of humour. I laugh so much with him – that’s an attractive quality to me.

I had to be patient with him when we first started dating. It would be four years into our relationship before he asked me to marry him and a further two until we did. He was a bit slow on the uptake and couldn’t read the signs. [Laughs]

We have three sons – Joe, 27, Tom, 26, and Paddy, 24. They are kind-hearted, hilarious and good people. Mick has been fully involved in raising our sons. His father died young, aged just 49, and we were all close to him.

Tom is the father of my granddaughter, Delilah. He likes to portray himself as the tough guy but he’s such a marshmallow inside – he will kill me for saying that. Delilah is the apple of his eye. Our two other sons still live at home, which we love.

I never expected to get married, but I did think I’d become a mum one day. I just never knew how it would come about or what shape it would take. I was happy for life to come along and make decisions as things cropped up.

Raising young men with Mick in this era is interesting. We have very intelligent sons who are open-minded and kind and aware of humanitarian and social-justice issues. These days, young men also have to be across consent and how to behave – and rightly so, because equality has to happen. But I have so much hope for this generation of young men; I think we are in good hands.

Julie Goodwin will appear as a guest judge on MasterChef Australia on Network 10.

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