![masterchef the professionals judges masterchef the professionals judges](https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/tscmediumimages/feature/undefined/0c38a789-b906-47e7-b6c6-ceab25f50ea2.jpg)
Sometimes I'd walk out with bad comments but smiling, because I thought, I cannot believe that Marcus loved it but Monica didn't. But they're always genuinely right in what they're saying. Getting to know their likes and dislikes, you can get great comments from two, and then one of them doesn't like it. Obviously I'm a big fan of all of the judges, and they're all completely different. Was it important to cook for judges and top chefs Marcus Wareing and Monica Galetti on the show? Did you have that on your mind when you were doing it? That's how I did it, I didn't have a grand plan to get to the finals. I just looked at the next challenge and thought, if I get through that, I'll get to cook for the critics, if I get through that, I'll get to do XYZ. So I thought, why not give it a go at the biggest competition? It was a big risk for me, so it was almost like – can I show my students that I can put my money where my mouth is?Īnd also just to say that you’ve done it! I just took it a challenge at a time. In my younger days I competed against Marcus in Young National Chef of the Year, and I've done a lot of competition coaching. I do a lot of competitions and I've been really successful. I just went in for the experience, because I loved the show. You see half of the chefs go home on Day One.ĭid you go in expecting that you could get this far? You don't realise how much you're putting on the line until you actually step into that studio for the first time. Here, you're putting everything on the line. So it is completely different from Chef of the Year. You're getting judged on everything that you do not just the plate of food, but also how you do it, your personality, your interaction, your interviews. But the difference with this is that you're putting yourself out there for six weeks.
#Masterchef the professionals judges professional
But to play devil’s advocate, it’s still just 'a TV show', compared to say, professional contests such as National Chef of the Year.
![masterchef the professionals judges masterchef the professionals judges](https://www.thetimes.co.uk/imageserver/image/%2Fmethode%2Ftimes%2Fprod%2Fweb%2Fbin%2F25aaf9d2-1eb7-11eb-8696-f5d5fcef88fd.jpg)
You've said you think it's one of the biggest competitions that a chef can do. It was difficult once I'd appeared on the show, because everyone then asked, did you win? So there have been various lies, that were all pretty rubbish, to try and divert the question. Was it difficult to keep it a secret from everyone?
![masterchef the professionals judges masterchef the professionals judges](https://www.masterchef.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/john_800.jpg)
It has been kind of weird! The only people that have treated me normally have been my students, because they know the real Gary! But when you're outside, and people recognise you, it's strange but great. It's quite strange, people have been stopping me for selfies and that kind of stuff. I think I've been on TV for about four weeks. I honestly didn't really feel like I'd won until last night, truth be told. It was kind of strange, my wife came down to London and we went out for a bite to eat - and one of the biggest things in my life had happened, but we couldn't tell anyone anything about it. How did it feel when you first found out you'd won? Visit National Restaurant Awards website.Follow National Restaurant Awards on social.