MasterChef Winner Billie McKay Shares How She Will Spend Her $250,000 Prize Money

July 13, 2022

In what has never been done before in the history of the franchise, last night, Billie McKay won MasterChef Australia for the second time.

Cementing her status as a legend, the 31-year-old proved that she really is the best of the best after a nail-biting finale.

She was first crowned the winner almost a decade ago in 2015 when she was only 24 years old, and now, with her life looking completely different to what it was, she lifted the cloche once again in an act of victory.

However, while McKay’s win comes as no surprise to those watching the show at home, she admits to feeling imposter syndrome after taking home the prize the first time.

“I’ve had extensive chats with Julie [Goodwin] about that feeling where you really question whether you deserved to win and whether you were good enough,” McKay told The Latch. “But coming back this time and seeing how far I got was a really good feeling. I thought, ‘Ok, you can cook, and you know what you’re doing’.”

After her first stint on the show, McKay briefly moved to the UK to work for famed chef Heston Blumenthal at his restaurant, The Fat Duck. However, the NSW-local missed the simple life and decided to settle down at her family’s dairy farm.

Her return to MasterChef illustrated her eagerness to reenter the hospitality industry, and this time, she has plans to stick around.

“I wasn’t really ready for what would come after [the finale] and the pressures of getting into the food industry and throwing my whole self into that,” she said.

“And I think it was because I was a whole lot younger and didn’t really have a clear direction in where I wanted to go.

“This time around, I enjoyed it a lot more because I definitely realised cooking is what I want to do.”

Having welcomed her daughter, Ada, with her husband Haydn two years ago, McKay has a lot more responsibilities than she did seven years ago.

Leaving behind her family to pursue this journey again wasn’t an easy decision, but she hopes it teaches Ada a few life lessons.

“I want her to follow her dreams — I know, it sounds cliche. But saying yes to opportunities is a bit of a life lesson, and hopefully, one day, she watches MasterChef and learns a bit from me and is really proud of me.”

As for the $250,000 she earned after being crowned the winner, McKay hopes to put the sum of money into her food dream.

“I definitely want to cook now, so it will help me set up a little restaurant or venue of some sort. So I’ll be putting that into food.”

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