'MasterChef's Julie Goodwin: 'I'm no centrefold girl'

Julie Goodwin has revealed that she would never be a "centrefold" model.

The 41-year-old MasterChef star, who won the Australian reality cooking competition in 2009, said that she has grown to accept her size 14 to 16 body and doesn't bother dieting any more.

Goodwin told New Idea magazine: "Just like my eye colour, my hair colour and the length of my legs are all determined by my genes, so is the shape of my body. So as long as I don't start piling on the kilos and becoming unfit and unhealthy, then I don't see a problem in not looking like a centrefold.

"I have gone through periods when I've thought, 'This is what the height/weight chart says I should be, so I've got to do whatever it takes to be that'. Now, I live my life healthily and fully and I'm accepting of the hand I was dealt."

Goodwin admitted that she has been on "so many diets" in the past, but added that she doesn't go on them any more because "they don't work". She said: "Healthy food to me is knowing exactly how much butter is in [something], and exactly how much sugar. Then I can make the decision whether I want three pieces or half a piece.

"I'm a 14 on the bottom and 16 on the top. I've been bigger and I've been smaller - this is my equilibrium. I've had a few people comment that I ought to be a role model and lose some weight. I just say to them, 'There are plenty of role models... I'd prefer to just be me'."

In August last year, Goodwin rejected the opportunity to become an ambassador for weight loss company Jenny Craig, saying: "I don't want to be thin. I don't want to be anything different to who I am."

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