MasterChef: Callum's Heartbreak

This year’s youngest MasterChef contestant, Callum Hann, 20, has a knack for keeping cool under pressure. It’s a trait he learned the hard way, following the death of his father, Richard, 50, to cancer, when he was just 16.

“Dad’s death was the most difficult thing in my, in our, lives,” says the dessert whiz, who was planning an academic path following high school. “Once Dad passed, I felt it was time for me to take over,” he explains of stepping up to support his grieving mother, Deb, and sister Kirsty, 23. “To take a load off mum I tried to help in my own way, by doing the cooking,” he adds. “That’s where it started - I was cooking on a more regular basis, learning as I went. I never looked back.”

Impressed by her son’s maturity and courage in the wake of their loss, mum Deb, 49, says they’re qualities that have aided Callum’s success on Ten’s reality cooking juggernaught, despite his age. “He’s exactly as his is on TV,” she says, adding the show has seen his confidence soar. “He’s mature for his age, yet completely down-to-earth.”

Callum credits his father, an avid amateur cook, as his inspiration both inside and out of the kitchen. “Dad worked in a winery for 20 years, so I’ve grown up with food and wine,” he says, fondly recalling his insistence on having Richard’s cannelloni every birthday. “Whenever I’m cooking, I think back to Dad’s efforts and smile.”

For proud mum Deb, MasterChef has confirmed her son’s calling, and kept the memory of her late husband alive. “His dad would absolutely be so proud of him,” she says. “He’d love what Callum has done on MasterChef.”


For the full interview with Callum, see this week's WHO Magazine, on sale Friday, July 23


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