I’ve always wanted to be a chef. As a child I was forever by my mum’s side preparing meals for our enormous family. Cooking is in my blood. After being dissatisfied with my career as a barrister, I gave up the court for the kitchen and, in 2008, I won the popular BBC programme MasterChef, and have been busy in the world of food ever since.

I used my success in MasterChef to gain access to this country’s most prestigious restaurants so as to turn myself from a talented amateur to a professional chef. I have worked with Richard Corrigan, Michael Caines, Michel Roux Jnr, John Campbell and Angela Hartnett.

My real passion is seafood and I am currently working for Rick Stein at The Seafood Restaurant in Padstow. I want to develop a delicious style of food that is healthy, bursting with flavour without being absurdly complicated.

The question everyone asks is “is MasterChef really as nerve racking as it looks?”. The answer is definitely “YES! It is all pure adrenaline.” But it is also enormously enjoyable and rewarding. I have continued to keep up TV work and have cooked live on GMTV, The Alan Titchmarsh Show, BBC Breakfast and Market Kitchen, all thoroughly enjoyable experiences.

What are my plans for the future? I hope one day to find enough money to open a legendary restaurant and to put together a quality cookery book documenting the incredible journey I have had from amateur to professional chef. Whatever I do will definitely be immersed in cookery.