This is what it all boils down to. It’s the reason I cook and write about flavour, the reason I eat out, the reason I read cookbooks in bed, the reason that I travel. And, of course, it’s what led me to apply to MasterChef.

I was born in Brighton, but our family moved to Paris for my dad’s work when I was just a few months old. As a result I grew up in the city of Light, with baguettes, croissants and picture-perfect petit gateaux available on every corner. Aged eight, we moved back to the UK, my parents divorced, and my mum, brother and I settled near Brixton in South London. I’ve never left; I'm a south Londoner through and through. 

I am of mixed heritage: the granddaughter of chicken farmers from Cambridgeshire, and Saint Lucian grandparents who arrived in London during the time of the Windrush movement. 

After attending a state school in South London I secured a place to read English at Cambridge University — a completely different world to the one that I was used to.

I always describe that transition as like heading to Hogwarts: magical but also really challenging — there was so much I didn’t understand about how to exist in such a place.

After three years at Cambridge I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. However, knowing that financial stability was important to me (the last thing I wanted to be was a burden on my mum, who had done so much for me and my brother) I found myself with an internship at one of the top investment banks, which led to a decade-long career in the City. It was — unsurprisingly — a challenging environment to exist in as a young woman of colour and, truly, I worked (and lived) to cook and eat.

In 2020, mid pandemic, I submitted an application for MasterChef — a decision that led me all the way to the final. It was an exhilarating experience and helped me to better understand my philosophy on food, and the dimensions that give food meaning and flavour (read more about what I mean by this here).

It also led me to turn my back on that hard-earned financial security. MasterChef gave me hope that I could build a career around my passion: food.

Securing a multi-book deal with Penguin for cookbooks on flavour was the first step, and my debut cookbook Bitter will be released in September 2023. The second, Sweet, will land in February 2025. Sour, Salty and Umami will follow.