Eric Johnson Online

Cooking is something I’ve always been fond of – so you can imagine how thrilled I was to make it through to the final of the Shine MasterChef Live competition held at Kensington Olympia!

It was a very special opportunity open to all Shine Group staff, both in the UK and globally, to recreate our own signature dish live on stage for John Torode and Gregg Wallace in a 45-minute time limit.

The final saw myself and colleague Oli Bates flying the flag for Princess Productions. Six others competing alongside us included those who work for Kudos, Dragonfly and Shine International production companies.

The dish I cooked is a favourite of mine and my friends – paella! However, despite my best efforts, I didn’t win the much coveted prize of £100 of Sainsbury’s Vouchers, a 3-piece MasterChef pan set and a 15cm MasterChef Filleting knife. But I did get to take home the MasterChef apron!

How pleased I was.

It was a fantastic evening watched by my proud parents in a crowd of around 300 who were lucky enough to sample my culinary creation. Best of all was not only meeting the stars of MasterChef, but also meeting Andi Peters who was there to compère the event – someone who I’ve been watching on the box since I was a wee nipper. But fortunately for everyone, he left Ed the Duck at home.

Next stop… Come Dine With Me? Watch this space..!