MasterChef winner Justin Narayan reveals for the first time how he spent his $250,000 prize money: ‘I don’t regret it’
He was the MasterChef fan favorite in 2021.
And Justin Narayan has given viewers an update after winning season 13 of the popular cooking show when he was just 27 years old.
The youth pastor took home $250,000 in prize money and Justin has now revealed that he gave much of it away, without spending any of the money on himself.
The Fiji Indian chef made the intimate revelation in an interview with Yahoo lifestyle on Friday.
“As I am, I wanted to be generous with it,” he said, after admitting it was the first time he had spoken publicly about his massive winnings.
Justin Narayan – pictured – has given viewers an update after winning MasterChef in 2021 when he was just 27 years old. The youth pastor took home $250,000 in prize money and Justin has now revealed he gave away much of it, Yahoo Lifestyle reports
“As I am, I wanted to be generous with it,” he said, after admitting it was the first time he’s spoken publicly about his massive winnings, adding that he hasn’t spent any of it on himself. Pictured: Justin with the MasterChef trophy after winning the show in 2021
Justin – pictured on MasterChef – says he gave away much of the $250,000 he won on the show
“So I ended up donating a lot of it and giving some away to people who I thought needed it more than I did,” Justin continued.
‘And then made some investments with the rest. I actually spent none of it [on myself]. In hindsight I probably should have. But I was like, I’m not going to buy flash, I’m not going to do anything, and I don’t regret it.”
Justin added that since winning the money, he regrets not spoiling himself, but says he never wanted money to rule his life, preferring to be generous.
Elsewhere in the chat, Justin says he felt pressured to do something “great” with his win, like start a restaurant.
Meanwhile, he says he’s working on a project and teased a return to TV.
“Some exciting things are happening this year,” he said, adding: “I don’t know what to say, but there’s a ton of great stuff coming up that I’m super excited about…
“But things I’d love to do is I absolutely love the whole TV entertainment side, so I’d love to keep doing something like that, traveling and creating experiences for people.”
Justin added that since winning the money, he regrets not spoiling himself, but says he never wanted money to rule his life, preferring to be generous.
Justin once announced the winner of MasterChef in July 2021 in a thrilling finalist showdown Kishwar Chowdhury and Pete Campbell.
At the time, Justin described MasterChef as “100 percent one of the best experiences I’ve ever had in my life.”
Shortly after his win was announced, he took to Instagram to encourage others to chase their dreams.
‘Find people who believe in you. Back yourself. Go hard and hopefully surprise yourself! Whoever reads this, I love you,” he wrote.