“MasterChef Australia” contestant Jules Allen was called a “tough cookie” when she joined the show in 2013. However, in a new interview, the 39-year-old single mum has revealed that she left the show feeling like a “basket case.”

The social worker and foster mother from NSW claimed that her experience on the show was not a pleasant one, but she knew all along what would have happened if she joined.

On the Monday episode of “Australian Story,” the one-time reality show participant opened up about her experience on the show.

“You’re encouraged to sort of crack open,” she said. “The problem is at the end there’s no one there to put you back together.”

Although she made it clear that “MasterChef Australia” told them to “expect the unexpected,” the contestants didn’t understand what exactly that meant until they were in the actual situation.

“I remember in the first few weeks a few of us referring to the fact that we felt like we were bipolar because of the enormous highs and excruciating lows – and they can all happen three times in a day.”

Allen was the eleventh contestant to exit the show after being eliminated during the Fast Food Week. Emma Dean from Victoria won the season.

“After four-and-a-half months on ‘MasterChef,’ you’re gone. You’re kaput. There’s no transition at all. You’re spat out into a foreign world because you’re not the person you were when you left.”

She added that she felt “completely alone” after leaving the show, saying, “I was a basket case, really. I had nightmares for weeks.”

Her experience is not exclusive to “MasterChef Australia.” She said that contestants for other reality shows like “The Block,” “My Kitchen Rules” or “The Biggest Loser” also end up humiliated on national television.

“The worst thing is we signed up fr it. Try reconciling that in yourself.”

“MasterChef” production company Shine Australia has defended the series, claiming that the contestants are given extensive support throughout production and “after when required.”

Earlier in May, Tully Smyth of the recent season of “Big Brother Australia” also spoke about being broke and exhausted after exiting the house.

In response to “My Kitchen Rules” contestant Kelly Ramsay’s hospitalisation and poor financial state after her time on the show, Smyth wrote on her blog about the realities of entering a reality show, saying that after being pampered and spoiled while on the show, she was left “emotionally, physically, mentally” exhausted.