Ever since she was young, MasterChef Australia contestant Malissa Fedele has suffered from crippling anxiety and panic attacks, which she feared were holding her back in life.
“It was a battle every day,” confesses the 28-year-old from Adelaide. “I had to fight through those negative emotions and get over that self-doubt.”
Coming from a large, loud Italian family who owned a fruit and vege shop, where she and her siblings worked, Malissa has always had a love of food. She finds making pasta and sauces from scratch particularly therapeutic.
However, she never dreamed she’d be able to put herself out there and go on one of her favourite shows. She only applied for MasterChef when she decided it was time she overcame her struggles.
Malissa is glad she pushed through her fears to compete.
“What’s more scary than putting yourself in a competition on national television?” asks Malissa.
Using tools such as meditation, journalling and exercise to stop the experience from becoming too overwhelming, Malissa is proud of how she comes across on MasterChef.
“Through putting myself in such an intense experience, I grew as a person and it helped my anxiety so much,” she reveals. “After pushing myself and fighting through that fear, I’ve come out the other end stronger as a person.”
The clinical nutritionist uses food and her own experiences to help women make dietary choices that improve their physical and mental wellbeing. Her ultimate dream is to pen her own cookbook and host a TV series to show how simple, fun and inexpensive nourishing food can be.
“Food is the foundation of how we think and feel,” says Malissa. “I connect to young women who experience anxiety, mental health issues and low self-esteem, like me. I know I can help them on a deeper level.”
MasterChef Australia screens 7.30pm Monday to Thursday & 7pm Sundays on TVNZ 2.
