The 2005 winner In April 2005 Thomasina Miers won the title of 'MasterChef', impressing judges John Torode and Gregg Wallace with her bold and, at times, eccentric cooking style. Find out how, if at all, her life has changed since then.

In this article

About Thomasina

Watch video of Thomasina's win

Her instinctive and distinctive cooking and personality took her to the final and won the day, but how has she found life after MasterChef? How has her life changed and what advice can she give to other amateur chefs thinking about becoming the future contestants of MasterChef?

Before Thomasina entered MasterChef she was a freelance food writer (she edited and compiled a recipe book – Soup Kitchen – pulling together the favourite soup recipes of dozens of top chefs, the proceeds of which are donated to homelessness charities in the UK). She had just returned from a long stay in Mexico and was at a major junction in her life, looking for the next step. Then MasterChef came along.

"I literally didn't think about it. I'd just got back from Mexico, trying to find a job, living in my flat, with no money and a huge debt. I just signed up for it. I didn't even think I'd make it through the first round. And when the programme started it came as a complete shock, because I still hadn't thought about it – about being in front of a camera. That was the most terrifying thing – realising that there were cameras pointing in all directions while I was cooking."

The most terrifying thing - surely that was the prospect of John Torode and Gregg Wallace tasting and judging her food?

"Gregg and John were pretty harsh," she says with a smile that acknowledges a memory of criticisms laid at her door. "But if you made good food they were good to it. They were amazing - really, really passionate about food and we [the contestants] learned from that passion."

So she doesn't feel that they are deliberately cruel to the contestants for the cameras and the viewing figures?

"It's television. But in a professional kitchen you'd get screamed at if you did something wrong, so I suppose there is a kind of reality to the situation. Gregg and John call a spade a spade. You have to remember that it's a competition and they have to rate people and give grades each time, and it's like real life, and there will be winners and losers."

Thomasina has clearly weathered the rigours of the competition well. What advice would she give to the latest batch of Masterchef contestants warming their woks and sharpening their knives?

"Cook from the heart. You have to forget the trappings and concentrate on your food, and what you love about food and flavour. You've just got to cook and go for it. Put your heart and soul into it. The programme is a learning process – that's what makes it so amazing. You learn about food and you learn about yourself. When you're in your darkest hour dig deep and keep going!"

Thomasina wears a determined smile and one wonders what her darkest hour might have been on the show.

"It was all so intense. But I remember the 'Ready, Steady, Cook' part, where you had to cook with unknown ingredients. I had this beautiful pork chop and I had cooked it perfectly. I was so pleased with it, and I had also made this amazing plum sauce. Then, because your nerves are just fraught, and because I'd never done anything like that before I started to lose it. I remember thinking about the sauce: 'Is this a sauce? Is it a chutney to put on the side?' And I ended up pouring this violent pink thing all over this beautiful pork chop and it just looked disgusting on the plate. This beautiful piece of meat was covered with a sort of pink blancmange – it was just awful. The judges were like: 'What is this mess?'. It was a miracle I made it through to the next round."

Miracle or not, Thomasina did make it through to the next round and went on through the two weeks of gruelling semi-finals and then the intense last two weeks of finals. She was flown in by helicopter to make dinner for 600 sailors on an aircraft carrier; cooked for soldiers over an open pit fire in the countryside; worked service in a top London restaurant; and impressed the judges throughout.

Gregg thinks she's truly a worthy winner: "She's a fantastic lady. Possibly not the greatest cook in the final, but most certainly the most passionate. That girl has fruit coulis pumping through her veins instead of blood. She, more than any other contestant, lived, ate and slept food. She has a great a career in front of her, writing and demonstrating. MasterChef has given her a great leg-up. Who can doubt her commitment after what she went through on MasterChef?"

So what happened next? Where did the success of MasterChef lead to? Have things changed for her in the last year? Thomasina laughs and says:

"They have this really annoying voice-over at the beginning of the programme saying that the chef who wins will have their life changed forever – but it actually does change your life! I think for all of us, especially the three of us in the final.

"I'm not sure the old MasterChef actually turned people into proper chefs. The old show was a challenge and fun, but the new Masterhef format is about a lifestyle change. It has completely flipped my life over. It's extraordinary what I can do now."

Since winning, Thomasina has worked as a professional chef, has catered dinner parties for the rich and famous, been offered positions at top establishments, and is currently finishing her first cookery book – the name of which is still in debate. Despite having to miss out on a trip to the Caribbean with her partner due to her hectic schedule, she's clearly enjoyed the year since winning MasterChef.

"Nothing really happens overnight. There's no dream ticket after winning. I'm still slogging away, but people know about me in the industry and my stock has certainly risen since MasterChef. Right now I'm finishing my book and deciding whether to take up one of the offers and go back to the professional kitchen. The idea of being paid to do the thing you love is great, and I wouldn't be in any other industry right now – it's such an exciting time for food."

You can tell Thomasina means every word of it. She talks passionately about food, expounding on the virtues of local food markets and the creation, revival and support for produce markets across the UK. She recently presented an award for best market at an industry ceremony.

"Food markets are an amazing way to shop. They put back the link between the producers of food and the customers in the towns and cities."

Thomasina talks animatedly about the threats of food shipping, senseless numbers of food air miles, and the tasteless produce in supermarkets. She is also clearly committed to the cause and the benefits of food education. "I've been given an opportunity. I have to be optimistic about things in life, and if I'm not doing something to help then I might as well not be around."

Then she smiles again and says: "I want to do everything. Finish my book, television work, promote local markets, get back into the kitchen. But you have to learn how to say no sometimes. I have to decide which way to jump in 2006. It's all very exciting."

There's that word again: exciting. And as Thomasina says goodbye and walks purposefully to recipe testing and planning for the future, everything certainly seems that way for the winner of MasterChef 2005. Food for thought for the potential MasterChefs of the future looking for a little excitement in their lives.

Winning came as a huge surprise to Thomasina who thought she'd 'messed it up'. She says: "I've never put my soul into something like I did with this. It was staggering to win, it was the most amazing feeling."

Relive the tense and emotional moments of Thomasina's win: