'Junior MasterChef' host Anna Gare reveals fire at family home

Anna Gare has revealed that her family home was once ruined in a fire.

The Australian television star, who is best known as the host and judge of Junior MasterChef, said that she struggled to sleep after most of her belongings were destroyed in the disaster four years ago.

Gare told New Idea magazine: "I can sleep at night now, but we don't have downlights any more. There was an electrical fault and we lost most of what we owned. Fire comes like a vandal and takes everything."

She revealed that they were unable to save her NBA basketballer husband Luc Longley's memorabilia as well as her cookery collection.

"I kept all of my recipes in a cookbook made of tapestry and I'd been adding to it for years," Gare said. "These were the recipes that were going to form the basis of my first published cookbook, but I had to start again from scratch.

Gare said that she is "proud" of her latest cookbook Homemade: Simply Delicious Food, but added that she already wants to "move on" to another one.

The television star has previously credited her brother-in-law - comedian Ben Elton - with kickstarting her career by encouraging her to be ambitious.

She has now revealed that he also "stumped up the cost" for her first commercial kitchen which enabled her to start up her catering business, describing him as a "lovely" man.

Junior MasterChef recently debuted to poor viewer ratings. It airs on Monday nights at 7.30pm on Channel Ten.