"It was very weird watching yourself on TV - it's like the first time you hear your voice recorded, you never sound how you think you sound.
"To see yourself from all angles and all the facials, I've had a couple of total shockers, real cringe moments," she said.
The chef, academic, sportswoman, actress and artist honed her skills during her time at Iona College. Last week she was back at the Havelock North campus to inspire students.
"I think a lot of it is down to the work ethic - it's cool to succeed here," she said. "The habits you establish at school stick with you."
Hailing from a farm in Porangahau, Ms Wynne-Lewis believed every element of her schooling helped in some way on the show - sport taught time management, determination, perseverance - science allowed her to predict how different ingredients would react. Speech and drama helped with multi-tasking - to explain her feelings on camera and articulate to audiences throughout the country.
But the food technologist's passion began a long time before she signed up for a university class or the national cooking show.
Her family always followed a "from farm to fork" mentality, with the catch from her father's hunting and fishing trips often shared.
Ms Wynne-Lewis' career path was selected thanks to its unique blend of academic and creative elements.
One day she would like to start her own company, using skills she picked up on the MasterChef journey, along with her training.
She will move to Melbourne next week to develop chilled seafood meals - an exciting opportunity she hoped would open doors in future.
The most difficult part of MasterChef proved to be the "mental game".
"We are really living and breathing it, you can't escape it, your mind plays tricks on you - it's fear of the unknown."
-Tune into MasterChef, Sundays 7.00pm on TV3.
