Aussie 'MasterChef' winner Adam Liaw: 'I was happy before the show'

Australian MasterChef winner Adam Liaw has revealed that he wouldn't have minded if he hadn't taken part in the show.

The 33-year-old former lawyer, who relocated from Tokyo to Sydney to enter the amateur cooking competition last year, said that he was happy with his life before MasterChef.

Liaw told Sunday magazine: "That's one thing [other winners] Julie [Goodwin], Kate [Bracks] and I all have in common. None of us hated our old life.

"There's the cliché, 'I hate my life and I need to do something new', so you go on MasterChef, but we were happy with our lives. I wouldn't look at going back to my legal career as failing in any way."

He said that spending a year away from his girlfriend Asami "wasn't easy", but that the separation was worth it. She has since moved to Sydney, where Liaw is looking for a location to open an izakaya restaurant.

When asked if he is considering marriage, Liaw said: "Maybe. When things settle down a bit."

Liaw also praised MasterChef judges George Calombaris, Gary Mehigan and Matt Preston for being there for him since he won, saying: "They're not contractually obliged to look after us after the show, but they do go above and beyond the call of duty."

Earlier this year, Liaw admitted that going on MasterChef was the first "risk" that he had ever taken.

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