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As a MasterChef Australia winner and long-time food columnist for The Weekly, the entire country has fallen in love with Julie Goodwin over the years. But when it comes to true and steadfast love? Nobody can hold a candle to the man she calls her rock, husband Mick Goodwin.
Over the years, I’ve heard Julie speak glowingly about Mick. The way she talks about him has made me fall a little bit in love with him, too. So it was exciting to hear, for the first time, Mick’s version of their beautiful relationship when they joined me for an emotionally charged episode of The Australian Women’s Weekly Love Stories podcast.
Having met at a St Vincent De Paul’s Youth Group, Julie was instantly taken with Mick – a tall, handsome, guitar-playing, 18-year-old who sported an earring and an impressive mullet. They swiftly became friends, bonding over shared interests and a shared enjoyment of giving back to the community.
“We hung out for nine months before he noticed that I was mooning after him,” she laughed as he prepares to share his side of the tale.
“My dad described me as slow and steady wins the race,” he told me of not being quick off the mark when it came time to make his intentions known. “And that really is me, I’m just really careful about what I do.”
But he did that one night on his 19th birthday, and the pair have been by each other’s side ever since.
“We were at Dollar Drinks at Hornsby RSL,” he recalled. “But I guess I had my eyes on Jules prior to that; it wasn’t just a spur-of-the-moment thing. But.. I just sort of thought she was out of my league. I didn’t dare believe that that could happen. But then I picked up a few signals…. I eventually got there.”
When did Mick propose to Julie Goodwin?
It was slow and steady again when it came time to propose. It felt like four agonisingly long years to Julie, and she was starting to pester him. Little did she know he had a ring on layby and was just waiting until he had enough to make that final payment.
“I was waiting for my tax to come through,” he said of the delay. “I was paying fortnightly rent, and some months there were three fortnights in the month. So I had planned around this. The three fortnights meant an extra paycheck where I could pay off the ring (and) had enough to take her out for dinner. So I had it all planned.
“And about two weeks before, Jules had said, ‘We’ve got to sit down, we’ve got to have a serious chat. And I’m trying to put her off. I said, ‘I don’t think I’m ready for this. Can you just give me a couple of weeks, and we can sit down?'”
Julie wasn’t happy. But on their fourth anniversary, he proposed, taking her to the famous revolving restaurant at Sydney Tower.
“Back in the day when it was fine dining,” he said of the night. “I had the ring in my pocket, we were all dressed up, and I popped the question. I was so nervous. It was a big moment.
In a scene straight from a classic rom-com, it wasn’t all smooth sailing when it came time to ask for her hand – a story he goes into on the podcast, which you can listen to HERE.
But that moment would lead to a beautiful wedding, three bouncing baby boys (in under three years!) and now their five-year-old gorgeous granddaughter Delilah. They have weathered tough times over the years – from financial insecurity to Julie’s ongoing battle with mental health to her sudden leap to fame.
But through it all, Mick has never wavered in his love for Julie – nor she for him. As he told me: “We’ve been married for years, and we signed up for a life together. And life’s a roller coaster…
“We’ve been a formidable pair since we got together. We’ve done everything together. She props me up and makes me brave. We drag each other outside of our comfort zones to fully experience life together. It’s a partnership.”
Now that’s couple goals and an epic love story. I hope you enjoy this episode as much as we enjoyed making it.
Watch the episode now:
Mick and Julie Goodwin were the third guests on our inaugural podcast, The Australian Women’s Weekly Love Stories. Listen wherever you get your podcasts.
