FluidOne's MasterChef finalist on ruining Michel Roux Jr's treasured madeleines and how the stress of the show compares to a channel sales floor

After reaching the final in last night's MasterChef, FluidOne's very own Mike Tomkins tells CRN about the highs, the lows and his most memorable moments

Head of major accounts at connnected cloud services provider FluidOne's reached the final three in last night's MasterChef finale.

In the final cook-off, which aired last night on BBC One, Mike Tomkins and the two remaining finalists had to deliver the best three-course menu of their lives to judges Gregg Wallace and John Torode. Making it to the final three, Tomkins talks to CRN about the highs, the lows and the most memorable moments from his MasterChef experience.

How nervous were you going into the MasterChef final?

I think by the time I'd made it to the final, I was totally at ease with the kitchen and the experience as a whole. I loved cooking in that kitchen and was gutted when it ended. Strangely enough I was probably more relaxed for the final than any other round!

How does it feel to have made it to the final three of MasterChef?

Being part of the whole experience was amazing, I loved it and getting the final made all of the hard work worth it. you feel justified for the decisions you've made up to that point including the time you dedicated to the competition - it really was a dream come true.

Has your experience in MasterChef inspired you to follow your dream as a chef?

We've got a few ideas up our sleeves for some FluidOne customer and partner events - so watch this space!

What was your best or most memorable moment from the experience?

MasterChef allowed me to do things I never thought I'd be able to do. To cook in a professional kitchen was such a privilege and to cook for Michele Roux Jnr was unbelievable - so many top chefs would give anything for that honour so it was amazing to do that. Also, the memes of me ruining the treasured family madeleines means that the experience will live long in my memory!

How does the stress of being in a professional kitchen compare to being in a sales team?

I'd say the two are pretty comparable! I think that being in sales really helped me on the show as I was able to stay pretty calm and focused in a high-stress environment. I just tried to enjoy every moment I had on the show because I knew that it wasn't going to last forever. I don't know which is tougher to be honest, the last day of the month, or the MasterChef final?

Is there anything from your experience as a sales executive that prepared you for the MasterChef competition?

Nothing can really prepare you for the show, you get warned that it's all consuming and full on etc. but no matter what you do, you can't help but underestimate it. I was really lucky that FluidOne were so supportive and flexible throughout the competition, without that it would have been impossible to take part.

What is the most surprising thing you found about how MasterChef is filmed?

It was pretty strange filming MasterChef this year due to Covid restrictions - it was really difficult as you want to celebrate properly with everyone but we had to remain socially distanced the whole time! I was also really surprised by how long the days were.

What was your instant reaction when you first saw yourself on TV?

Honestly, it was that I really did eat too much of my food when I was practising! I couldn't believe how calorific everything was, eating that every single day wasn't great for the waistline! Luckily we weren't in the office at the time or my suits would have been very tight!

Did you ever think you'd get so far in the competition when you first applied to be on MasterChef?

In all honesty, I applied on a bit of a whim, my girlfriend was nagging me to do it so we applied and forgot about it! Then it was just "get an apron and I'll be happy" but that snowballed and it was "just get to the next round" but I am very competitive so after about two or three rounds I was desperate to go all the way.

Have you ever cooked for your work colleagues? And will you be doing so now that the contest is over?

I've never actually cooked for anyone at work before. I know that there's a few people at the front of the queue now though so I think it's inevitable that I'll be rustling something up for the team soon!

"Mike has joined FluidOne commercial director Ash Morarji as the second MasterChef contestant from the FluidOne team, continuing an illustrious tradition of TV cookery within the company. Cooking has been a regular part of the FluidOne socials since the lockdown as Ash has been hosting ‘cooking with Ash' to take other members of staff through some of his fantastic recipes, and now having two great chefs on board to help everyone else I'm sure Mike will join Ash in sharing some of his expertise as well," added FluidOne.