Having retired from tournament golf at the end of 2008, Parsons now runs a café in Randwick, New South Wales and was a participant in the first season of the competitive cooking television show MasterChef Australia. He hoped to expand his business and open a restaurant. He cooked a Singaporean Chili Crab dish which impressed the judges and helped him progress to the semi-finals. Parsons beat celebrity chef Ben O'Donoghue in the sixth Celebrity Chef Challenge to guarantee himself a place in the finals. He was the first finalist eliminated on 13 July 2009 followed by former competitor Julia Jenkins who also won a celebrity chef challenge.
