MasterChef’s Diana Chan admits she was ‘broke’ when she won the show back in 2017

Former MasterChef star Diana Chan won the hit cooking series back in 2017. 

And now the Malaysian-born Australian cook, 35, has admitted that when she won the series and the $250,000 prize money, she was actually ‘quite broke’. 

Speaking to Yahoo Lifestyle this week, Diana said she was forced to go back to her finance job weeks after the show after taking a ‘sabbatical’ for filming.

However, things soon turned around for Diana, who now has her own successful dumpling range with the brand Golden Wok which is available in leading supermarkets across the country. 

‘I think I was 29 then and you’re only living off your savings, so you have a lot of bills to pay,’ she told the publication about going back to her job in accounting. 

‘We finished [filming] at the end of May, and then the announcement was at the end of July. So you have that three-month period where I just needed to earn money,’ she added. 

But she said things changed overnight for her once it was announced she had won the show, including media appearances and even international opportunities as the show airs overseas. 

She went on to launch her own dumpling range, run a pop up restaurant and host her own show called Asia Unplated. 

Speaking to Yahoo Lifestyle this week, Diana said she was forced to go back to her finance job weeks after the show after taking a ‘sabbatical’ for filming. ‘I think I was 29 then and you’re only living off your savings, so you have a lot of bills to pay,’ she said

However, things soon turned around for Diana, who now has her own successful dumpling range with the brand Golden Wok which is available in leading supermarkets across the country

News.com.au previously reported that the dumpling range made a whopping $10million in gross sales in 2020, after selling 21 million pieces in Coles and Woolworths that year.

Diana told Yahoo Lifestyle that she’s now eyeing an expansion of her brand in Asia. 

‘I mean, Asia is huge, that’s going to be a massive project which we are working on together,’ she said. 

News.com.au previously reported that the dumpling range made a whopping $10million in gross sales in 2020, after selling 21 million pieces in Coles and Woolworths that year

Diana won MasterChef Australia back in 2017, after beating rival Ben Ungermann by just one point.

After hearing she had won, Diana was in shock and said: ‘It feels unreal!’

Diana also won a monthly column in Delicious magazine, while Ben picked up $40,000 as the runner-up.

‘I can’t believe this is just happening,’ Diana said of her victory. 

Diana told Yahoo Lifestyle that she’s now eyeing an expansion of her brand in Asia. ‘I mean, Asia is huge, that’s going to be a massive project which we are working on together,’ she said