Chariya Khattiyot, 40, was crowned MasterChef 2023 champion in the United Kingdom last Thursday for her dishes of northern Thai food.

She is the first Thai cook to earn the title in the show's 19 seasons. She beat 44 other contestants over the eight-week BBC One contest.

"I've loved watching MasterChef for many years and decided to enter the competition so I could showcase northern Thai cuisine," she said.

"I am passionate about bringing northern Thai cuisine to the UK while making use of local ingredients. Thai food is not just tom yam and pad Thai," she said.

Born in Chiang Mai, Ms Chariya lives in Basingstoke, Hampshire with her fiancé Adam, whom she met in Japan whilst studying there.

She loves cooking because of her late grandfather, who raised her alone and taught her how to make the most out of what they had and get the best flavours from food.

Her winning main course was a traditional northern Thai "khantoke" dish.

She now dreams of opening a restaurant where she can showcase her northern Thai food in the UK.

"From a little girl who cooked in a kitchen with no walls, to lift that trophy is going to be a story I can tell to inspire girls who have a hard life. If you work hard, I'm sure you can achieve something," she said.