Turns out there’s a catch when it comes to winning the $250k prize money on MasterChef Australia

MasterChef Australia 2017 winner Diana Chan has revealed that there’s a surprising catch when it comes to the $250,000 cash prize.

While the prospect of winning that much dough is mindboggling, recipients can’t expect the prize in their bank accounts immediately.

During an interview with Yahoo! Lifestyle, the chef confessed that she didn’t receive her prize for “months”.

“You don’t get it instantly,” she dished. “I don’t know if I’m actually meant to mention this, but I didn’t get it until like five months later.” Sounds like it got lost in the mail!

However, when the money did arrive, the 35-year-old said she wasn’t sure what to do with it.

“To be honest, I was making a decent amount of money doing other things that I actually put it aside and invested it,” she recalled.

“I wouldn’t say I have it now anymore, this is six years down the track, but you use it on different things to start your career and whatever you want to do.”

MasterChef Australia 2023 winner Brent Draper reveals how he’s spending his prize money

Following his win that aired on July 16, MasterChef Australia 2023 winner Brent Draper revealed how he planned to spend his prize money.

The 32-year-old told Yahoo! Lifestyle that the first thing he’s going to buy is a boat.

“Look, the wife’s laid down a law I can only buy one fun thing with [the money], which will be my boat because I’m a mad fisherman,” he revealed. 

“The rest will obviously go to investments and a cookbook. That’s one of the things that I want to work hard on straightaway.”

The soon-to-be father-of-two has some unique plans for his cookbook, explaining that he wants it to be “a tie between mental health and barbecue food”.

“I want to push the message that I’ve always pushed and just keep the conversation open,” he dished. 

“If I can do it in a tasteful way, it would be such a great present to give someone who is struggling a little bit.”

Brent originally appeared on the 2021 season of the cooking show, however, he quit to prioritise his mental health, so this is a topic close to his heart.

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