A Stepping Hill Hospital nurse’s journey on TV’s Masterchef recently came to an end, but not before she cooked up a whole load of sensational recipes.

Panisha Patel, 28, who works as a children’s nurse at the hospital’s Treehouse unit got to the semi-finals on the top-rated programme, coming ahead of over 50 other contestants over the course of five weeks.

Panisha’s innovative fusion dishes included Spice Girls inspired dessert (one spice for each girl!), she cooked with fellow contestants in locations including the Glyndebourne Opera House, and she received a huge amount of praise from hosts Greg Wallace and John Torode, as well as guest chefs and critics. Sadly she left on the last episode just before ‘Final’s week’, but she was delighted with how far she had come.

Panisha said "MasterChef was an incredible experience. Getting to the semi-finals was a dream come true, at first it was hard keeping it a secret, but now I love that I can share it with everyone. The process was stressful and tiring at times, but at the end of each round I felt so excited and happy, I was ready to do it all over again! All my colleagues on the Treehouse Unit have been so supportive along the way, and it`s been so lovely to see messages of encouragement from around the hospital! Thank you so much to everyone who watched and for all your lovely comments and support."