Kenny Tutt has been crowned the winner of MasterChef after seven weeks of battling it out in the kitchen.
The bank manager and father-of-two – who has admitted that his love of cooking is somewhat of a secret – fended off competition from Nawamin Pinpathomrat and David Crichton in the final episode of the series.
Tutt, 36, impressed judges John Torode and Gregg Wallace with three final dishes inspired by his MasterChef journey – a roast scallop and smoked cauliflower starter, a squab pigeon breast main with spiced cherries, and a bitter chocolate and ale ice cream dessert.
His dishes were praised as being “quality restaurant-style perfection” by Wallace, while Torode said Tutt’s main course was “make-my-heart-thump fantastic”.
Tutt, who came out on top after competing against 55 other amateur cooks throughout the series, told the Press Association that his friends and family will be “blown away” at his achievement.
“Most people didn’t even know I did a lot of cooking,” he said.
“I just kept my head down and they probably didn’t even know if I could boil an egg.
“There are only certain people I know who are real foodies, who I’d really talk to about cooking with… so there’s going to be a lot of people going, ‘what the hell just happened?’ and be bamboozled by my win.”
He added: “I’m quite looking forward to that. I always like surprising people!”
During the final challenge, Tutt said “everything just sort of came together” for him, adding that he was “more calm and really focused”.
He said he is “massively” surprised at how much he has learned and developed since his first day in the MasterChef kitchen.
“I’ve sort of transformed as a chef, and I would call myself a chef now because I feel like I’ve got a level of understanding and a level of calmness around food, where I could take something and make it special,” he said.
Tutt’s plans for the future revolve around possibly setting up his own gastro-pub, but he has not formalised a plan as yet.
Of his win, he said: “I’m just going to take the next week or two and enjoy it, and take it all in.
“I can think about the business side of things later, and I want to make the most of this – I think it would be a shame if you don’t make something of it because MasterChef is a great platform.”
Torode said: “I think Kenny’s journey has been extraordinary. He has come a long way. His food has got more and more refined and his main course was make-my-heart-thump fantastic!”
Wallace said: “Today we watched Kenny coming of age. We have just witnessed Kenny having his best round on MasterChef and he saved it for the final.
“His starter was a stunningly beautiful dish, it was quality restaurant-style perfection and his main course was even better.”
Tutt lives in Worthing, West Sussex with his wife Lucy and their two daughters, three-year-old Emily and Grace, 10 months.