Watch video interviews with the finalistsAfter weeks of gruelling challenges, Dean, Daksha and Peter made it through to the finals - seeing off the competition of an initial 4,000 applicants and 132 chosen contestants. It was a tough decision for the judges, Gregg Wallace and John Torode, but after much deliberation they crowned Peter Bayless the winner of MasterChef 2006. The finalists talked to BBC Food about the highs and lows of the competition and how taking part could change their lives. About PeterThe winner of MasterChef 2006, Peter Bayless, hopes this win will change his life and is looking forward to a later-life career change to pursue his real passion - food.  At school Peter was good at cooking and drawing. He chose the drawing as a career - the wrong choice he now suspects - and spent his working life in the advertising industry. He started his own creative studio in the 1980s and most recently moved his company out of London to his home in East Sussex. Peter was taught the kitchen arts from an early age by his mother, but later influences on his cooking style and passion for food came from reading classic French chefs such as Escoffier, and from an inspirational cook he met in his travels to France. The experience gained from cooking every day of his life, for his wife, family and friends, certainly helped Peter on his challenging journey towards gaining the title of MasterChef. His ambition now is to make a career out of food - he hopes as a food writer or broadcaster. At the age of 59 Peter feels it is unrealistic that he would take on the rigours and intensity of becoming a full-time chef, but nonetheless harbours a desire to open a small, intimate French-style bistro. As his prize, Peter has been offered a paid scholarship to train under a top chef at a top establishment. Find out what Peter did after winning MasterChef Peter's recipes
About Dean 'Digger' Dean Edwards is a Bristol boy through and through. He studied photography at college but has always cooked for pleasure. Aged 28 and recently married, Dean worked as a machine driver on the UK highways before applying his skills to the MasterChef challenge. He now wants to train further in a restaurant environment, to learn as much about cooking as possible. He hopes one day to open his own bistro-style restaurant. Read about what Dean did next Dean's recipes
About Daksha A 44-year-old wife and mother of two who lives in London, Daksha Mistry only really started to enjoy cooking in the last few years. Born in Kamapla, Uganda, Daksha hated cooking when she was a girl despite the best efforts of her mother, who taught her to cook the basics. But more recently Daksha discovered her passion for cooking and has taught herself by research and experimentation in the home kitchen. Daksha is an enthusiastic exponent of Gujarati cusine, and her ambitions include opening a restaurant serving international food and writing a book and/or presenting a tv show aimed at teaching the nation how to cook her favourite Gujarati food. Read more about Daksha Daksha's recipes
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