MasterChef 2022 winner says triumph a dream come true

Warning: This article contains spoilers for MasterChef 2022

The 2022 MasterChef champion has described their win as "the culmination of a lifetime of cooking".

The contest saw 45 amateur cooks battle it over seven weeks of challenges and one final cook-off.

Eddie Scott, 31, a marine pilot from Beverley, East Yorkshire, was crowned winner of the BBC cookery competition on Thursday.

Mr Scott said: "I don't think it will ever sink in. To have won MasterChef is a dream come true."

He faced tough competition from fellow contestants Pookie Tredell and Radha Kaushal-Bolland in the final as they all showed off their culinary flair to judges John Torode and Gregg Wallace.

However, he cooked his way to victory with a menu of turbot topped with caviar, followed by a pastry-topped chicken biryani and a chocolate mousse.

Before winning the competition the amateur chef spent eight years as a navigation officer in the Merchant Navy and for the past five years had piloted ships on the Humber.

He said his job meant he handled pressure well and helped to give him the tools to cope with the stress of the competition.

Being able to thrive under pressure also came in handy when cooking with Gordon Ramsay, one of his culinary heroes.

The celebrity chef hosted this year's Chef's Table at his three Michelin-starred establishment - Restaurant Gordon Ramsay.

Mr Scott said he "wasn't nervous in the slightest" when he had to cook some of Ramsay's classic dishes to impress a dining room of some of the country's best chefs.

"I was more about seizing the opportunity of cooking with one of my heroes, someone I really admire," he said.

MasterChef judge, John Torode, said Mr Scott was "nothing short of a culinary powerhouse," while Gregg Wallace said the winner was "a future great chef" who had "hardly put a foot wrong throughout the competition".

Following his win the newly-crowned champion said he wanted to focus on his "true passion in life," which was entering into the culinary world, as he felt he had achieved his childhood dream of being in the merchant navy.

He said: "I'd really love to open a restaurant and showcase my love of food, my passion with other people and my nostalgia which shines through all my dishes."

Reflecting on his triumph made him emotional he said, because it was the end of the Masterchef journey and "the culmination of a lifetime of cooking".