Eddie Scott: Masterchef champion who works at Gordon Ramsay's restaurant lands top job in Maldives

The UK MasterChef 2022 champion will create special dishes on two evenings at Outrigger Maldives Maafushivaru Resort in in the second half of April 2023.

He will also hold a special cooking demonstration at the resort for guests who want to learn culinary skills.

Mr Scott, 31, from Beverley in East Yorkshire, won the coveted TV accolade in May with MasterChef judge John Torode calling him a “culinary powerhouse”.Fellow judge Gregg Wallace said: “I think we’ve just seen the birth of a future great chef.”

Mr Scott is currently working in the three-star Michelin restaurant Gordon Ramsay in London. He spent eight years as a navigation officer in the Merchant Navy travelling the world before becoming a marine pilot in the River Humber in 2017.Only since storming his way to the top of MasterChef UK in May has he switched to cooking full time.

He draws on his love of classic French food and often surprises diners by adding Indian culinary flavours, a skill he learned from his Punjabi grandparents.

“The way food was ingrained in French culture was a total revelation. I wanted to recreate the food I’d tasted and that’s how I really got into cooking,” he said.

He will create special menus on two occasions in the latter half of April at Outrigger Maldives. He will also give a culinary demonstration and hands-on cooking class for guests.

It will be his first trip to the Maldives. “I can’t wait to go and cook there. I’ve heard so much about the place,” he said. “The water there will be a bit different from the Humber. I look forward to trying the island’s fresh seafood.”

The resort’s executive chef, Christopher Long, also from Yorkshire, met Mr Scott while he was visiting the Michelin-starred Pipe and Glass near Beverley, Yorkshire, run by James Mackenzie, who was also a guest chef at Outrigger Maldives in 2019.