Chelsea Winter reveals a family milestone and opens up about her healing journey. Photo / Gina Fabish
For some time now, Chelsea Winter has been balancing two worlds – one public, one private. Of course, there is the famous celebrity chef that we see – a glamorous, bestselling cookbook author, social media favourite and former reality TV champion. That Chelsea has a pretty incredible life.
Then there’s the quiet homebody and solo mum whose day-to-day routine is pretty much everyone’s reality.
She smiles, “In that life, I’m constantly tidying and cleaning, picking things up off the floor and putting away Lego, sorting groceries, cooking, and doing laundry and school runs.”
While Chelsea, 41, is grateful for both her lives, she admits it’s often a juggle. Giving her sons Sky, 6, and Sage, 3, a healthy, outdoorsy Kiwi childhood nourished by good food is a priority, but she’s honest enough to admit there have been moments when it has felt overwhelming.
These days, though, she feels more supported than ever, with family nearby and a clearer sense of flow in her daily life. Her sister Dana and one of her closest friends both live near her home in the small Taranaki community of Ōakura.
And now, much to Chelsea’s joy, her mum Annemieke is moving from the Waikato to be close by, too. “It’s a dream come true,” she beams.
Annemieke, 76, and her husband Kevin have bought a bush-covered property, with a stream running through it, and there are already ideas to create a wonderland for the grandchildren with huts to camp in and trails to explore.
“The plan is that we’ll all go to their place every Sunday afternoon for dinner to just hang out,” says Chelsea. “That beautiful extended family dynamic is so important and Mum is really gifted with children. They love being with their oma.”
Everyone who knows them will tell you that this mother and daughter are very similar. They’re both tenacious, hard-working, creative and open-hearted women who like to see the best in people.
Annemieke says right from the beginning, she could tell Chelsea was going to do something interesting with her life.
She laughs, “I didn’t think she would be such a power-house, but it was evident before she was even born that she had something to say because of the kicking that went on! Chelsea came into the world with energy and purpose.”
Family stories include the time Annemieke came in from feeding some calves to find a 3-year-old Chelsea up on a kitchen bench, simmering sliced carrot and potato in a pot on the stove. “When I asked her what she was doing, she said, ‘Cooking!’”
A lot of what Chelsea knows today about food comes from helping Annemieke in the kitchen as a child. The family had a small bach on Great Barrier Island and, over summer, hordes of friends would camp there. The kids would go out on the boat with Kevin to catch fresh fish, then pitch in together to cook up feasts, making the most of whatever ingredients were on hand.
“I’m a pretty basic cook, but I can create a meal by making very little go a long way,” explains Annemieke. “Chelsea learned how to make tasty food for a crowd.”
For three years, the family also had a food stall at the agricultural event Fieldays, where Chelsea helped serve up bacon-and-egg buns and Dutch apple tart to queues of people.
There’s been much more learning since then, of course, with her 2012 MasterChef NZ win followed by seven cookbooks, each helping refine her knowledge and style. Now she’s launching book number eight, Nourish, which takes all she’s learnt about healthy, achievable, comforting food to create nutrient-dense recipes that are destined to become family favourites.
For Chelsea, it’s more than a cookbook – it’s an invitation to weave nourishment into everyday life, helping families thrive around the table.
“My kids were the inspiration for this one and ever since I got my hands on a finished copy, it hasn’t left my kitchen bench,” Chelsea enthuses. “It’s designed to be a practical resource for every need and occasion. I’m using recipes from it most days.
“It’s taken all the best things from my other books – the deliciousness, the flavour, the comforting food that people enjoy and the nostalgia – and wrapped it up in a nourishing package. I’m really excited about this book. I genuinely adore it.”
After two plant-based cookbooks, Supergood and Tasty, eggs, meat, fish and dairy are back on the menu, along with a divine sweet treats section made without using unrefined sugar. There are also gluten-free options for most recipes.
Her own children can be fussy, but Chelsea’s found they do love lots of punchy flavour, so there’s a high “yum factor” with reinvented classics like spaghetti and meatballs, protein-boost brownies and even her famous chicken pie, which has been given a healthy twist.
“If you’re going to open a cookbook, you want something that’s comforting, nourishing and going to make you feel happy,” she reflects.
Nourish is the first time Chelsea has collaborated with someone else. Her close friend Heliena, whom she describes as her “soul sister”, co-created the collection with her.
“I wouldn’t have done this book if it wasn’t for her,” she admits. “After Tasty, I felt like I was done for a while, but working together was this incredibly joyful process from start to finish. It didn’t feel like just me slogging it out alone.
“For my first five books, I could put all my energy in, but with Supergood and Tasty, I had young kids. I don’t know how I did it. It came at a big cost. So having Heliena there was just incredible.
“She’s like another me, but with her own unique skills. There was someone else developing recipes with me and pouring that powerful, creative energy in. There was never any tension – it was beautiful.
“And with this book, there was a purpose behind it – to help parents solve the problem of how to nourish their kids better with good, easy, accessible food they’re going to eat. Heliena and I have children the same age, so it’s something we both face every day.”
One of the things Chelsea has learned from leading her double life is the importance of self-care. As well as warming her heart with a morning cup of cacao, she tries to make time for a walk on the beach most days, and when the boys are with their father, she focuses on looking after herself.
“I don’t drink and rarely go out because that’s really just not what I feel like doing in this passage of my life,” she says. “So every single minute in those days, I’m prioritising things that nourish my body and soul, whether it’s a sauna, doing some work that feels really good, meditating or making myself a delicious meal and taking time to unwind.
“When I do that, I find I have so much more capacity for my kids, my work and life in general. You can’t fill from an empty cup, although most of us are always trying to.”
Self-care is such a priority that Chelsea has decided to host a women’s retreat next winter at the luxury Flockhill Lodge in Canterbury. There will be a range of “healing modalities”, such as breath work, sound healing, body awareness movement and “nourishing ancestral food”. It’s a rare opportunity for women to turn the focus on themselves.
Chelsea says that just as Nourish came from her desire to feed families better, the retreat was born from her longing to “feed women at a deeper level – body, soul and spirit”.
She explains, “One day, I had an inspiration. I just knew this was what I needed to do because I’ve gone through a massive healing journey myself in the past five or six years. I’ve never been so excited about anything.”
There are other new enterprises on the way. Chelsea has a food product line coming out and is working on her first beauty product, a body butter. She’s also hosting one of her hugely popular foodie group tours to Sri Lanka with Trafalgar in March 2026, with spaces already filling fast.
“I’m going with what feels good,” she says. “I’m living in a place of such flow and clarity now that even though there’s a lot going on, it rarely feels overwhelming. I try to show up being the best mother I possibly can be in any given moment and also have my own stuff going on as well. It’s not perfect and I’m not perfect – far from it – but every day gets a little easier.”
Happier than ever in her own company, single Chelsea is enjoying doing whatever she pleases once the kids are in bed and cooking for one when they’re away.
“I’m pouring all my time and energy into my children, myself and my creations. It feels more than enough – a season of creativity and joy.”
Chelsea will be promoting her book in Inglewood on October 19, at the Nelson Arts Festival on October 27 and the Tauranga Arts Festival on November 1. For more info on Chelsea’s retreat, visit nourishandbloomretreat.com.