Where are the MasterChef winners now?

MasterChef's 2024 semi-finalists are within touching distance of the trophy, and there are certainly some big shoes to fill for this year's winner.

The BBC cooking contest has crowned 19 winners so far, propelling them into glittering culinary careers that they could only dream of when they first applied for the show.

As the current batch of amateur cooks compete to be crowned the 20th champion, we take a look at what some of their most successful predecessors are doing now.

Thomasina Miers - Series 1

MasterChef's first winner is still probably the best known, after the show catapulted her into the food industry limelight with a hugely successful restaurant chain.

After winning in 2005, Miers spent time building her kitchen skills at the likes of Petersham Nurseries, but spending a year living in Mexico was the turning point for her career.

She returned to the UK and opened her first Mexican restaurant, Wahaca, in 2007, which has become a stalwart of the UK restaurant scene and she has opened 18 branches so far.

Miers also founded a food waste project, The Pig Idea, in 2015 to combine her passions of food and the environment. She was awarded an OBE in 2019.

Mat Follas - Series 5

Mat Follas is still a familiar face to MasterChef viewers as despite having won back in series five, he continues to return as a regular guest judge.

Follas has also followed in the footsteps of some of his culinary icons by opening two restaurants of his own - The Wild Garlic, which was awarded two AA Rosettes and recommended in The Good Food Guide and The Michelin Guide, followed by Bramble Cafe & Deli in Dorset.

The chef has been inspired by using foraged ingredients and even runs courses now on foraging and wild plants to encourage others to do the same. He also has a liqueur brand, Mure Liqueurs.

Dhruv Baker - Series 6

The 2010 winner Dhruv Baker has transformed his life since appearing on the show, and now counts judges Gregg Wallace and John Torode amongst his close friends.

In fact, as the MasterChef stars looked back over their favourite moments on the show recently, Wallace even said his top memory had been Baker cooking for a Maharajah in India during his finals week.

As well as plenty of TV appearances and publishing a cookbook, Baker has also launched an award-winning British charcuterie brand, Tempus, with fellow former MasterChef contestant Tom Whitaker.

Shelina Permalloo - Series 8

In 2012, Shelina Permalloo won over the judges with her take on recipes inspired by her Mauritian heritage and she's since gone on to publish two cookbooks.

Permalloo has made a number of TV appearances, including being a guest at the recent final of The Apprentice where she quizzed pie company entrepreneur Phil Turner.

She also has a restaurant in Southampton, Lakaz Maman, which serves Mauritian street food and has an all-female management team.

Natalie Coleman - Series 9

Hot on the heels of Shelina Permalloo was Natalie Coleman, who won the following year and is a regular visitor back to MasterChef as a guest judge.

Coleman has taken honing her cooking skills seriously since winning the series, as she has completed stages in some top kitchens including Le Gavroche, St Johns, The Kitchin, The Berkeley Hotel and The Hand & Flowers.

She is currently the head chef of Young's Pubs, has published a cookbook and runs children's cookery courses.

MasterChef continues on BBC One at 9pm tonight and the series is available to stream on iPlayer.

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