Finding my feet again - Julie goodwin

As she returns to the MasterChef kitchen for a season of Fans & Favourites, newly-minted grandmother Julie Goodwin reveals the precious gifts that have given her another lease on life.

-  TAY DUNK

Julie Goodwin wasn't sure what to make of the text message. It was from her middle child, Tom, asking if she and his dad, Mick, would be in that night - he had something he needed to talk to them about. It felt ominous and her heart instantly sank. Mick was out, she replied, doing her best to keep the mood light. How about the following night?

As soon as Mick walked through the front door that evening, Julie pounced. “I was like, right, let's figure out all the things it could be and set our faces for it,” she recalls. “It could have been anything. Tom and [his partner], Crystal, having a baby was the easy one, everything else we thought of was worse."

Luck, as it happened, was on their side. By the time Tom, 25, arrived the following evening to share the news, Julie was on hand to smother him with hugs and congratulations.

“We were delighted," she says of the magical moment. “A little human coming into the world is a beautiful gift. I have to say I feel too young to be a grandmother but I couldn't love Delilah more. I've loved her since I knew she was existing. And I love Crystal, she's a beautiful mum and I've always thought she was a really good partner for my son.”

The sense her daughter-in-law was a good fit came early, she tells The Weekly today, proudly bouncing her 15-month-old granddaughter on her hip.