MasterChef champion pays tribute to roots

Dan Merriman, Chiara Tomasoni and George Birtwell were competing to become champion of MasterChef: The Professionals

"I've been holding on to this for so long and then all of a sudden, it's finally out. It feels amazing."

Dan Merriman - who has just been crowned the new champion of MasterChef: The Professionals - said it was a relief to be able to talk about one of TV's best-kept secrets.

The 29-year-old, originally from Worcestershire, said keeping that secret to himself was a challenge.

"We had such a good time, we made so many incredible memories... It's lifelong friendships so… of course you want to talk about it, but obviously you're not able to."

Over the course of seven weeks, Merriman took on 31 other professional chefs to take home the coveted trophy in Thursday's final.

"To walk away as MasterChef Champion, it means the world to me," he said.

"This whole competition has changed my life. I'm forever grateful."

His winning menu consisted of a barbecued scallop glazed in sumac in a Turkish-inspired glaze and served with a curry sauce as a starter.

His main featured ex-dairy beef with mushrooms and a beef hash brown with truffle, followed by a blackcurrant cassis mousse with yuzu curd for dessert.

"I think we all walked away that day incredibly proud and happy with what we put up for the judges," he told BBC Hereford & Worcester.

"And it didn't matter what the outcome was. It was absolutely amazing."

Merriman has come a long way since his childhood in Droitwich.

He started out as a potwasher at the Crown & Sandys pub in Ombersley, and then "it kind of blew up from there really".

He began working as a pastry chef, before moving to the Crown at Hallow.

It was during his time at the Manor Arms in Abberley that he was discovered by a chef who introduced him to the world of fine dining.

Merriman says his Worcestershire roots still inform everything he does in the kitchen.

"It's inundated with incredible produce and incredible farmland, which we really need to triumph. I think it's absolutely amazing.

"So of course I'm inspired by that. It's always going to be part of my journey.

"It's where I'm from."