Episode 25 MasterChef

Seven weeks ago, 40 determined amateur chefs

set their sights on the MasterChef title.

How long on the cods? Come on, come on, come on, come on!

You're going to get slapped in a minute.

Now only the three most talented remain.

To get to this stage, I've put in an awful lot of work.

If you do something, do it to the best of your ability.

It's not always been easy, but it's paid off cos I'm sitting here.

To lift the trophy after such an intense,

exhausting, exhilarating, incredible experience,

I don't exactly know how I'll feel, but I think it'll be pretty good.

No-one likes to come second or third, do they?

It'd be nice to have my name in lights for ever more.

12th winner of MasterChef.

Something that I'll be striving for.

Tonight, either Jack, Jane or Billy

will be crowned MasterChef Champion 2016.

After 12 years of MasterChef,

you would have thought, wouldn't you, that we'd have seen it all.

It's not true. Every single year,

I am amazed at the talent of the people out there in the UK.

Everyday people wanting to realise their dream,

cooking to try and get that one prize, the championship trophy.

Well, this year we have had surgeons, teachers, nurses,

florists, housewives, house-husbands...

We've had them all.

Throughout the competition we've constantly tasted dishes

that have delighted...

That is ace! Properly ace!

Absolutely love that. Wow, thank you.

It's a revelation. Ohh...!

..and dishes that I never want to see again. Oh, yeah.

HE GROANS

This is what happens if you start cooking without a plan. I know.

This has been an extraordinary year. I've smiled, I've laughed...

JOHN SINGS

There's been a bit of drama...

Quickly, please! Two spoons, please!

HE GROANS

Oh, for crying out loud!

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!

..there's definitely been lots of emotion...

SCREAMING AND LAUGHTER

JOHN SOBS

SHE SOBS

You're upset because you care.

..but what we have got are three extraordinary finalists.

I never really had an ambition to be an astronaut, a fireman,

anything like that...

I wish I'd thought a bit harder about it and wanted to be a chef!

I've got a younger brother called Tom.

He looks a lot older than me now, which is quite nice,

but yeah, he's two-and-a-bit years younger than me.

We get on really well.

We had a bit of rough and tumble occasionally, as young boys do...

He's very competitive.

We had a cricket net in the garden growing up,

and he would come in and bowl bouncers at me.

And I'd leave with lots of bruises.

Come on, then...

When we were growing up we both used to cook a lot.

I always enjoyed cooking even from a really young age,

making cakes, and that sort of went on to making

desserts for my mum's dinner parties.

We were lucky enough to be taken out to some nice restaurants

cos my parents liked eating out.

Used to order the most expensive dish

until I got a telling off from the old man once.

Now, even if I'm paying myself,

I tend not to order the most expensive dish.

Living with Billy throughout the competition has been hard work.

I learned how to boil an egg recently.

This is how bad I am!

Billy is such a messy cook, honestly,

it's like a running joke between all my friends.

He just creates mayhem, it even goes on the ceiling.

His food gets everywhere.

There you go, dear. Thanks, darling.

I think it was the general mess and dirtying of her new kitchen

that she wasn't overly pleased about, but yeah, she's more than proud

and can look over that, the fact that I've got this far.

All the stress and the aggro and the sleepless nights,

and being in the final makes it all worth it.

Pleasure.

GREGG: We've had lots of creative

and sometimes wild contestants on MasterChef.

That's not enough on its own!

What Billy has is the ability to actually really make you think!

You start bringing in things like pithivier into a curry...

I personally think your gamble's paid off.

I loved that sherry vinegar ice cream.

You expect it to be really, really sharp but it's not.

Billy's an intrepid adventurer.

He really does love a bit of danger, he likes a bit of drama...

BILLY GROANS

Burnt fish! Table five! Burnt fish!

..and at the start of the competition he liked a lot of mess.

POTS RATTLE

I've got to plate up there, haven't I? If you can find some space!

I do admire a man who comes up to the table wearing his dish.

I don't think I'm ever going to be the tidiest cook in the world

but I've definitely improved since the first day.

I've just taken each challenge and each step as it comes.

It is just out of control.

There have been plenty of times where I've doubted Billy.

Listen, take a deep breath, relax. No, it's not... Relax.

I'm trying. Relax. Yeah...

OK? Yeah...

Oh, I've popped that one as well.

Come on, I need to move now.

Oh, just having a mare! Oh, that was horrible.

I'm annoyed with myself.

But every single time he has bounced back

with a work of absolute brilliance.

It's exciting, it's well cooked, I absolutely love it.

It's superb.

Come on, guys, keep on pushing that out! Madness.

That looks great. Well done, well done, well done.

The day that we had with Michael O'Hare was an eye-opener for me.

Don't be afraid to make a bit of a mess.

That's a work of art, isn't it?

I think my confidence has grown since that day a lot.

I think I've seen the best plates of food

that I've done in the competition since then.

It's bold, it's daring, there is so much on that plate to admire.

I think it's a really delicious thing, and I'd scoff the whole lot!

Here you go, my love. Nearly there.

Along with the confidence that's grown, it's just enabled me

to produce better plates of food.

It's big, it's bold, it's massive in flavour,

but yet so delicate in so many ways.

Billy didn't just set out to do well in this competition -

he set out to challenge himself as well as us.

I've not really thought about anything else other than

winning now. So it'd be just... Yeah, a massive achievement.

HENS CLUCK

Morning, girls!

Any eggs today?

Mum and Dad used to run an egg and cheese stall outside Cricklewood Broadway.

Well done.

'We had to come home, and we'd always be packing eggs

'and cutting cheese, so

'we grew up very much as a working family.'

It was just accepted, that's what you did.

I left school when I was 18, I did my A levels.

Where I lived, people didn't go to university,

so it was just accepted that you get a job.

And I went and I got a job with a marketing agency, PR company.

Alfie! HE WHISTLES

Mark and I met,

I was at the time running my own business consultancy...

..and I went along and did a pitch to him.

He pretended he had money, so I was all excited thinking I was

going to get this big contract, and he didn't, he just wanted a date!

She has been telling some secrets, hasn't she?

Yeah, she rang me up and

'I did have ulterior motives.'

Lottie! Come on, Alfie!

But hey, it worked, right? So, here we are today.

If you'd have told me what I was doing in my early 20s,

I thought I would be a career woman.

When I was first pregnant, it all changed.

Didn't like working and leaving the kids at home, so

You been for an interview?

I've got four children.

Congratulations!

They're absolute joy - sometimes!

'Any family, you have your ups and downs.'

I actually have spent the last ten years fighting cancer

and being very ill.

Come on! SHE WHISTLES

'I mean, literally, there was times when I thought I wouldn't be here.

'It's been incredibly tough,

'a really horrible time, a very scary time,'

but three years later, I'm completely and utterly clear.

'You've got to get through these things,

'and with my children there was no way I was going to give up.'

You have to try and survive, and I'm one of the lucky ones.

With everything that Jane's been through,

it's brought us closer together as a unit.

'It's absolutely inspirational what she's done, she's an amazing lady.'

Massive amounts of fight in her.

Good luck in the final, I hope you win it.

Well done, very proud of you, darling. Oh, thank you.

Cheers, guys!

Cheers!

'Since MasterChef kicked off, originally it was,

'"I'm just going to go up and enjoy the experience."'

But she's now hell bent on winning it.

If she does, hopefully that'll be an inspiration to other people -

when you get as ill as Jane got,

that there is light at the end of the tunnel.

You know, don't give up.

Jane is a lover of Great British classics.

That's what she's fed her family, that's what she's grown up on,

and that's why, when she does it, it's absolutely delicious.

That looks very...mmm!

I like that a lot. Thank you.

It's a lovely, lovely thing. To watch you work is a joy, Jane.

It shows such imagination, such creativity. I think

that's a real, real triumph.

I knew that as a home cook, as a mum,

I could turn out nice meals for my family.

But I think this has given me the confidence to realise that,

you know, I can be better than that.

I wouldn't complain if I get this in a restaurant.

I would pay for it.

I've hung in there by the skin of my teeth at times.

This egg white isn't cooked.

You know what you've done wrong... I do. 100%.

'I was convinced I was going out.'

But looking back on it now, that did me a favour.

She's not scared of any ingredient, she's not scared of any technique,

and she's definitely not scared of any challenge we've thrown at her.

I'm really proud of myself.

I didn't think I could do half the things I've done.

If you'd told me I'd sit on a warship and cook for that many people...

Jane is swinging from the tree tops. She must have learned it from Tarzan!

If we don't get this ravioli course out, then we're in deep trouble.

She's doing a brilliant job.

Woo-hoo!

And actually, there's an inner strength there that's come through

and I'm proud of what I have achieved.

Jane has had one of the most incredible journeys on MasterChef I have witnessed.

Look at the quality of her dishes now.

I mean, this is amazing. I would travel a long way to eat this.

So good.

You're a generous cook, you cook from the heart, and you've done it.

It's been an amazing experience.

Just takes you out of your comfort zone, shakes you up...

You're looking nice, Jane.

..but I wouldn't have swapped it for the world.

You look very calm and organised, Jane. You hope!

Keeps on giving more and more.

What do you do every day, Jane? I'm a mum. I've got four children.

So today's been a doddle!

Well done! Thank you, Chef.

It would be absolutely lovely to win it.

On a personal front, to show how far I've come

and that I'm not defined by things that have happened to me

in the past, but I'm defined by what I can achieve and what I can do.

So, massively important. Massively important.

Just...completely changed my life.

As a kid growing up, just to keep me and my brother in the kitchen

but maybe not like causing too much havoc,

my mum used to give us

lots of flour and stuff, and we used to mix it all together

and bake it and feed it to our plastic dinosaurs.

Definitely not edible for human consumption!

I was in a band for a long time actually,

I don't think we've officially broken up.

We don't play together any more.

It was called The Rants.

It was a terrible name!

We did quite a lot of stuff.

I met Bonnie Tyler with the band, so that was a bit of a highlight.

Creativity's always been so important.

I was always kind of painting and drawing.

I ended up studying fine art in Brighton,

which was amazing.

I spent a lot of time cooking.

I kind of realised it was one of the things I had over other blokes,

so it's a way that I used to cook for girls

and I used to invite them round for dinner.

It was funny when he first invited me round to his for supper -

I was expecting a pasta bake or something,

and he'd prepared a seven-course tasting menu.

So from that point I kind of knew he was pretty serious about it.

I remember the first time I went round to her flat,

she had probably as many cookery books as I did.

We definitely bonded over our love of cooking and love of food.

Jack is seriously competitive.

He wouldn't admit it to you, but I know him well enough now to know

that it really means a lot to him to actually win the competition.

Yeah, I want to win.

It would be pretty cool just to have that trophy on the mantelpiece.

Yeah, I think it would look good here. I can see it in the flat.

Jack walked in here with an idea

that he would take a classic and turn it on its head.

And he's done that all the way through the competition.

Ham, egg and chips.

Brave man. Good job.

I love the fact that you've taken William's coriander

and turned it into a dessert...

I think it's magnificent.

To get a bit of feedback from William Sitwell

was unbelievable and I never expected that,

and that really gave me a huge confidence boost.

We know how good Jack can be.

When he goes a little bit too far off piste, it becomes dangerous.

It looks a little messy.

It tastes a little muddled to me, Jack.

Jack's truffle custard is best left in the filing cabinet.

I messed up that dish, and I thought I was going home.

I felt beyond terrible.

Not all of his inventions work.

But John, no matter what you throw at him, he remains calm.

Could be sat in my office responding to client e-mails...

I'd rather be butchering 25 chickens, personally!

Very, very nice-looking dish.

You are a superstar, Jack.

Woo-hoo...!

It ticks boxes for me.

Watch your back...

It's been incredibly hard.

Some mad stuff's going on right now.

What I now want to do

is lick the plate!

I've reached a stage where I honestly thought I couldn't go on.

HE GRUNTS IN FRUSTRATION

The most pressured situations I've ever been in.

I'm really, really, really up against it.

Not enjoying this one bit.

'But when you get some amazing feedback,

'it puts everything else in perspective.'

That's lovely, Jack. That's really lovely.

Doesn't get any better than that.

That is delicious.

This is work of the highest standard.

For an amateur cook to do something so petite and refined as that

takes a lot of skill.

You did it. Well done. Thank you so much.

His food at its best

is not only clever and different, but it's delicious.

You can't ask anything else of any cook!

It would be amazing to lift the trophy.

So, I'm going for it. I really, really want it. Really want it.

The food that you three have cooked throughout this competition

has been nothing short of stupendous.

You know at the end of this, we can crown only one of you our champion.

One of you will join 11 other people in being a MasterChef champion.

That's an extraordinary thing.

This right now, undoubtedly, is going to be the most important meal

you're ever going to cook in your life.

Give it everything you've got.

Ladies and gentlemen...

Three hours. Your three courses.

Let's cook.

I don't know how those three are feeling right now,

but I have to say I am really nervous.

I'm excited, I'm full of emotion.

It's gone beyond "Let's cook well." That is just a given.

This is about attempting the extraordinary.

Delighting, exciting, surprising.

That's what they need to do.

I've learned as much as I can,

I've practised as much as I can,

I've put everything I can into this.

So now it's just about me, some ingredients and some pots and pans.

Jack, you are huffing and puffing,

you're dancing from one foot to the other, you're all over the place.

What's going on, mate?

I honestly think the more you enjoy your cooking, the better the plates of food end up.

so I'm just trying to have fun and really enjoy this last bit really.

We have seen you do some very daring things along the way. Very exciting.

Forever trying to push the boundaries. Yeah.

I came in and did ham, egg and chips for my first dish,

and I'm sticking to the similar sort of idea,

it's the sort of food that I love, it's quite comforting, quite homely.

But at the same time, if you can make it a bit exciting and surprising, that's the goal there.

If you lift the title, how will you feel?

I will feel amazingly proud of what I've achieved.

And I will feel like I've done justice to the dishes,

but also, you know, to you guys and your faith to putting me through.

It's been an amazing process, and to finish off by lifting that trophy

would be the icing on the cake.

For starter, doing a sort of riff on bubble and squeak.

His concept of bubble and squeak, using gnocchi...

..Brussels sprouts and leaks.

He's making his own brown sauce.

I want it to be powerful and strong.

A pickled quail's egg...

And he's making a crumb from black pudding, to go across the top.

I want bubble and squeak that scratches my throat with pepper.

I want to feel warmth in my belly from it.

Jack is doing what he loves to do,

which is taking the very ordinary and making it extraordinary.

For my main, I really wanted to cook a doughnut.

I was looking to do a doughnut for my dessert,

but actually then I started thinking about other ways to do it.

So that's stuffed with crab meat...

..and then it's paired next to a very simply cooked piece of cod.

Tartar sauce.

A pea mousse.

Kind of pea tartare.

So you've kind of got an element of fish and chips about it.

Jack is using a water bath to cook his fish.

He's going to poach it.

No texture to it whatsoever,

so the rest of the dish has got to deliver the texture.

Exactly like you'd get in a fish and chip shop -

the scraps for me are the best bit, little crispy bits of batter.

Just something about having scraps

on a MasterChef final dish,

I just thought was a really nice idea.

All these little bits of details make the food evocative.

Everybody knows what scraps are like. They're great.

They're not that good for you, but they're delicious!

Jack's not doing a dessert...

..he's doing four desserts.

I'm doing chocolate cake...

strawberry marshmallows...

..hazelnut tuile.

Hazelnut and cinnamon ice cream.

Hazelnut and chocolate powder.

And a salted chocolate sauce.

There we go. All the elements. I've missed one off...

No, that's good.

Anything with that much processing is risky.

Every time you make that dish that little more complex,

you make it riskier and riskier with every little twist and turn.

But you don't win MasterChef by playing it safe.

Right. First hour's gone.

You have got two hours left. Come on.

My three courses today are all based on my favourite childhood memories.

I'm very proud of these dishes, I hope that they like them.

Jane, the words "I'm at the final of MasterChef"...

I know. It just sounds unreal, doesn't it?

I don't quite believe it myself to be honest.

What have you got to do today, Jane?

Just got to cook my heart out,

and give you three very, very lovely tasting plates of food.

Really feel passionate about what I'm cooking today.

This is me on a plate, so I'm just hoping that you enjoy it.

To take classics from your childhood

and elevate them into restaurant standard's not easy.

Yeah.

My first course is based on our Sunday tea...

..which was always cockles and winkles and mussels.

Typical London family.

Although Jane is selling the idea of childhood memories,

it's actually far more complex than that.

What she's proposing is

mussels and cockles

cooked with white wine and parsley...

..langoustine served with a saffron mayonnaise...

and winkles on toast.

This may be the first time that anybody has cooked winkles on MasterChef.

Little, tiny sea snail, and they are quite strong...

The hard work is getting them out of the shell.

Little, tiny things. You've got to get 'em out with a pin.

When we were kids we were obsessed with making winkle sandwiches,

and we used to try and get as many out as we could to make the best sandwich so

I'm trying to reflect that. Have you tried this out at home? Yes.

What happened? There was a mixed response on the winkles,

I'm not sure I can get the kids to eat winkles!

They all look at me in horror!

Main course is based on the dish that my mum makes, my favourite roast dinner.

I think the main course is a really big ask.

Spiced lamb, with cauliflower and onion?

An onion and potato bhaji on the side?

We're talking about a modern approach to Indian food

using an English Sunday roast as a base.

Lamb has got to be cooked very, very well.

Will it be pink?

Or will it be done all the way through,

as you would expect an Indian curry to be done?

Oo-er!

Mmm!

Is that yoghurt? Yeah.

Mmm...

The bhaji's got to be light and fluffy.

That's really hard to get right.

It's got to be something small and delicate. Not a big lump of bhaji.

I'd probably cook a curry once a week for the kids.

So it just seemed a natural progression to me.

I really love it, kids really love it...

..hopefully, John and Gregg really love it!

My final dish is based on rhubarb and custard.

Her rhubarb and custard is actually stewed rhubarb

with a caramel made from burnt oranges and lemons.

We've got a honeycomb,

we've got a granita made from rhubarb...

..and we've got a rosemary-flavoured panna cotta.

Now, rosemary with rhubarb could work.

The sharpness and bitterness of orange and lemon?

It could be a very, very good thing.

But there's lots of detail to get right.

I think her food reflects Jane all the way.

Her childhood, her growing up, and her journey through MasterChef.

Inspired.

Only cos it's the final will I open the fridge door for you.

Thank you. I appreciate it. SHE LAUGHS

You've got an hour and a half left.

Come on, you three.

You do continue to enjoy a little bit of mess, don't you?

Well, I thought I'd better go out with a little bit of mess.

You've always cooked in this competition

as if the dish that you cook may be your last.

There's no point in playing it safe, especially not now.

You live by the sword, you die by the sword, that's the way I cook.

I like to be on the edge and get in amongst it and getting at it really. I don't like an easy time.

I love the lunacy, Billy!

Why drop the lunacy now in the final?! Very true.

I'm not going to change my ways now and play it safe and

give you meat and two veg.

Starter is an English breakfast...

Cooking a breakfast in a MasterChef final? Oh, yes, please.

All I've dreamt of is somebody to make me a delicious breakfast.

He's going to try what many people have failed to do -

make a breakfast sophisticated, posh and elegant.

A confited egg yolk inside a hash brown basket...

..his own pork sausage...

..and confited tomato.

All served with toast.

Or toast crumb.

I'm not quite sure.

When I came into this competition

I really wanted to make sure I cooked an English breakfast.

It's been waiting there to come out until this moment. Why not?

Billy's main course intrigues me.

Because there's combinations which sound completely out there,

but in my mind may actually work.

He's going to serve suckling pig -

not very much fat, very, very tender and quite rich -

he's serving that with crispy bits of octopus...

So you've got a bit of crunch.

He's got a sauce, the base of it's all prawns,

which he's going to flavour

And then he's doing endives and a pineapple puree.

Crispy pork with bouncy octopus,

It was one of my mad moments where I just came up with this dish.

There is just 30 minutes between you and a MasterChef title.

Billy, the dessert sounds fantastic.

We've got a parfait made with chocolate...

Some peanut brittle.

We've got salted caramel.

Loads and loads of technique.

And something that actually as a flavour is all familiar to us.

The peanut, chocolate and caramel is obviously based around

one of the nation's favourite chocolate bars.

I was worried in terms of the combination

it might be too sweet, especially for John's taste.

I know Gregg loves anything that's really sweet.

It's brown and sweet, and brown and sweet is what I love.

I've got to say, I think it's daring,

it's full of adventure, and that's the Billy we have come to know.

If he delivers these three courses, and they taste good...

the title could be his.

Are you going to get all this done? Er, I hope so.

Honestly... I mean, you know, I've seen you work at 100mph before

but a lot of work still to do, Billy.

Yes, there's a lot to do. I'm not denying that, I've really got to get my skates on.

You have less than 15 minutes left.

Let's go!

The tension in here right now is quite extraordinary.

DISH SMASHES

Things are being dropped. People getting nervous all over the place.

It's really going off very, very fast.

How are we doing now, Billy? Are you on time?

It's going to be very touch and go, John, I have to say.

Really under the pump here. Been under the pump all day.

Was always going to be ambitious.

He's getting himself in a bit of a panic.

I think Billy may have bitten off more than he can chew.

You've got five, guys. Five minutes left. Just five minutes.

Come on, Billy. We are running short of time.

Right, that's it. Stop! Well done.

Egg broke. All of them broke. JANE: Oh, bless you.

I can't even remember what I'm supposed to have on there. Come here. Well done. Well done.

Jack, you're up. Come on.

Good-looking food.

And also, intriguing food.

Inspired by bubble and squeak,

Jack's starter is a baked potato skin

filled with truffle oil cream,

with a pickled quail egg yolk, gnocchi, roasted sprouts,

pan-fried leaks, baby turnips,

black pudding crumb

and a brown sauce made from apples, dates, treacle and tamarind.

You have got the flavours, the essential flavour and heart

of bubble and squeak, but the surprising bit for me

is the sharp sourness that's coming from the pickle,

along with that lovely puree that sits underneath.

The crumb is adding texture, adding spice and adding flavour.

I'd like a bit more pepper on top of it

to make it even MORE spicy, but I think it's great.

I really like the crispy skin on the potato,

I like the potato smoothness inside.

And you have actually got the flavour of brown sauce

going on in that sauce.

I don't kind of understand the dish.

I don't know how it comes together as one thing.

I'd eat it...

Jack's main is a twist on fish and chips.

Cod fillet sous-vided in butter,

a crab doughnut,

scraps,

pea mousse,

pea tartare,

deep-fried capers,

and a tarragon and chive tartar source.

The amount of work in this dish, Jack, is just extraordinary.

That looks good.

There is very, very good sweet, big,

punchy crab flavour inside that very well-made doughnut.

I also like the tartare pea as well

because it does have the zing of a tartar sauce.

I love the crunch down on your scraps,

and I think you've cooked that fish brilliantly well -

that is flaking apart, that's very, very soft indeed.

If you close your eyes, you are eating fish and chips.

When you open your eyes, you're eating fish and chips

from a plate which is beautifully sculptured,

technically without fault

and I think tastes absolutely delicious. Fantastic.

Jack's chocolate marshmallow dessert

includes chocolate sponge cake,

strawberry marshmallows,

cinnamon and hazelnut ice cream,

chocolate soil

and a hazelnut tuile,

accompanied by chocolate and hazelnut powder,

raspberry liqueur cream,

freeze-dried strawberries

and a chocolate sauce.

That...is a work of genius.

That ice cream, flavoured with nut, is just really deep and rich.

I love these big chunks of marshmallow. I think that's great.

A beautiful sponge, as well -

mate, I tell you, wherever you turn on that

you get a boozy, nutty,

chocolate, very grown-up,

"Let's paddle in it up to our knees"

pudding delight!

Jack, what do I say?

It's just fantastic.

You've put the whole lot together,

thinking you shouldn't be doing that cos it's a bit naughty...

It's so wrong!

It's so wrong, it's so good!

It's like the wrongest good thing you've had in a really long time.

Very well done. Very, very well done.

I feel good, you know. I haven't left anything behind today.

I'm really happy. Thank you so much.

I'm exhausted. Absolutely exhausted.

That feedback for that dessert is exactly what I've been looking for

throughout this entire competition, and to get it with my last dish

was...unbelievable.

Billy, come and join us.

With your oil painter's smock on!

Billy's starter is his English breakfast.

Nutmeg-spiced pork sausage,

confited tomato, hash brown,

shards of Parma ham,

squid ink toast crumb,

black pudding puree

and a mushroom veloute.

What happened to the egg yolk?

Just trying to plate it right at the last minute

literally with seconds to go and I kept breaking them.

It's very clever and it tastes very good,

and textures that I would recognise from a fried breakfast.

I've got the ham giving the saltiness,

and the sweetness that you would get from bacon.

I've got tomato, I've got mushroom flavour going through the veloute,

and I've got black pudding in a sauce.

I like the textures, I like the flavours...

You're very good at playing with people's minds, Billy.

I really like it. I really like it. I would have loved the egg with it.

Breakfast without an egg, it's sort of a sandwich short of a picnic!

Billy's main course is roasted loin of suckling pig

served with crisp octopus tentacles,

braised chicory,

capers, pineapple puree,

I am now about to eat octopus with pork, endive and pineapple.

Yep.

With squid ink.

An adventure I've never been on!

Your pork itself is a little bit tough.

But as for the rest of it,

The taste of the sea from the octopus sits in the background

of that bitter endive with the sweet but sharp and sour pineapple,

I think it's a lovely, lovely thing.

But that sauce that sits underneath

has so many different layers of flavour.

It is a very, very clever thing indeed.

Good job. Thanks.

I didn't know how I was going to get on with pineapple, pork and octopus.

That is a step-by-step journey of flavours,

that really do just burst on your palate.

Very impressed with that.

Billy's dessert is peanut, chocolate and caramel.

A peanut cake made from brioche crumb,

served with nougat parfait,

chocolate soil,

peanut brittle, dark chocolate cream,

milk chocolate tuile

and a salted caramel sauce.

I have to say, the little bits and pieces in here

are all beautifully refined.

Your parfait is velvety soft,

your cake is spongy

and taking up your lovely, rich salted caramel sauce.

I think it's really, really delicious.

Anybody that's bought one of those chocolate bars

would recognise those flavour combinations instantly.

Is that what you were attempting to do? Yeah, that was it.

Yeah, well done. Well done, you've done it.

Thanks, Gregg.

You really did push yourself extremely hard today.

Yeah.

Five minutes less doing something

and I think everything would have been spot on, but it wasn't to be.

Yeah, I did push myself all the way.

There are little issues in here, things that you wanted to put on and you didn't,

but that's very, very good cooking.

That's clever cooking. That's Billy cooking.

JANE: Really clever. Well done. Seriously, well done.

That sounded amazing.

'It was manic for me for the whole duration.'

Thought I'd have had longer to plate up, I really did,

but I didn't and...it showed.

I think they look fantastic.

I love the polish, I love the form,

I love the thought.

This looks fantastic.

Appreciate that.

Jane's starter is a take on her childhood Sunday tea.

Winkles and parsley on toast,

served with pan-fried cockles and mussels,

langoustine tempura,

deep-fried caper berry

and a saffron lemon mayonnaise.

That's probably the best-looking

winkle cockle dish I have ever seen.

Every little bit of that shellfish is beautiful,

it's got exactly the right texture as well

and there's the saltiness of the sea coming from it as well.

Your tempura is as light as you like,

your langoustine's brilliantly cooked.

Textures are great. Flavours are natural, and they're good.

Well done.

I would like a little bit more sharpness in my mayonnaise,

because I think that can work with saffron.

But as for the rest of it, it tastes of what it should do.

And that's the sea. The joy of the gift from the sea.

I think it's a beautiful thing.

Jane's Indian-inspired Sunday roast

includes braised shoulder of lamb

marinated in yoghurt, cumin and garam masala,

with cannon of lamb

cooked in a red chilli and kaffir lime leaf puree,

onion bhajis,

roasted cauliflower,

pan-fried shallot, onion puree,

deep-fried kaffir lime leaves

and a lamb gravy.

Right. This, I'm really looking forward to.

Your loin of lamb is cooked beautifully and lovely and pink,

your shoulder of lamb is braised really well

with the yoghurt and the spice round the outside.

You get the cauliflower sauce underneath, that's lovely.

Your bhajis, they're light as you like -

almost like little pillows of air

flavoured with turmeric and onions and potatoes. But for me,

the thing that makes this whole thing come alive...are these.

Little shreds of lime leaf,

which are completely unexpected.

I'm stealing. Cos that's great!

Very clever, Jane.

Thank you.

It's a genius flavour combination.

These are big, heady, powerful spices you're playing with,

and you're handling them with the lightest of touches.

That's a stunningly good dish.

I'm really impressed with that. Well done.

Jane's dessert is rhubarb and custard.

A vanilla panna cotta flavoured with rosemary,

with honeycomb,

rhubarb stewed in a ginger liqueur,

a rhubarb and ginger granita

and a burnt orange and lemon caramel.

That's a very pretty, pretty plate. Look at that.

It's a piece of modern art!

Technically, everything on here you cannot fault.

I love the sweet, sticky syrup with the bitterness of the orange.

The wobble of the panna cotta is absolutely perfect,

the creamy silkiness of it...

Your granita is sharp and refreshing,

and your rhubarb is cooked very, very well.

But what I really want is more of that rhubarb

to go with all those beautiful things.

It's just shouting at me, "More rhubarb, please!" Sorry.

The best of dishes in the world ever for me

is when you think you've worked it out

and you get something that's different.

Panna cotta flavoured with rosemary is superb.

It doesn't make it savoury. It makes it almost smoky and woody.

You've got sharpness of orange,

you've got sharpness of rhubarb,

and it's a beautiful match.

That, I think, is magnificent. Very kind.

Jane, you have, if you look down now,

had a pretty extraordinary journey.

I would never have thought in a million years I'd have done that.

So, yeah. I really did try my very best today.

We can tell. Thank you very much, Jane.

Thank you, gentlemen. Thank you.

'I was really pleased with their feedback.'

I'm very emotional at the moment, I'm...I'm already close to it.

Relieved? Yeah. Emotional, I think. Very emotional.

Absolutely brilliant final.

Three very worthy finalists. Nine extraordinary plates of food.

The lovely bit was eating it -

this is the difficult bit, because this is close.

I could make a case for all three of these, I really could.

Jack is a cookery force.

He has been getting better and better, cleverer and cleverer.

He is incredible.

What he does do is deliver those ideas

in a very, very different way, in a modern way,

a sophisticated way,

with real style and real skill.

I really want to win,

because this has been such an incredible journey

and I've put so much into it.

If I don't,

I can still walk out of here with my head held high, absolutely.

Billy really went for it, really pushed for it.

And he stuck true to himself. He hasn't compromised at all.

He's going to work in a messy way. That's the way he loves to do it.

For all his things that went wrong today, his food was still delicious.

I'd love to win, I really would.

But I just think my mistakes, compared to what Jack and Jane...

Just don't think I've done enough on the day sadly.

Jane obviously decided that she wanted to push her food

on to the next level.

And when she made that decision,

there has been no stopping her.

She's fought through this competition,

and today made us three extraordinary courses.

To be able to go right from the start to the end

has just been an absolute privilege to be honest.

And to finish on a high. I couldn't have asked for more, could I?

It's almost been a dream come true.

You couldn't divide them coming into here, you really couldn't.

You could pick out the triumphs, you could look at the times

when they haven't quite been up to their own exacting standards...

And I have got to champion my favourite three dishes,

my favourite cook today.

I agree. I totally agree.

Today, there is one MasterChef champion.

I mean, you have demonstrated time and again your passion...

your imagination

and your skill.

I want you to remember just how far you've come.

This competition this year has been marvellous.

Along the way,

..we've cried...

It has been an extraordinary journey.

Our MasterChef champion...

..is Jane.

# But I set fire to the rain

# Watched it pour as I touched your face

# Well it burned while I cried

# Cos I heard it screaming out your name

# Your name... #

Thank you so much.

Couldn't have done it without you guys, I tell you,

I couldn't have done it. JACK: That's amazing...

'I'm feeling good.'

Yeah. You know, the best three dishes won today and you can't say fairer than that.

I'm definitely not the same person I was

when I walked in here for the first time.

I'm a...a lot better at cooking!

Obviously a little bit disappointed, but this has definitely

given me an insight of what can be achieved and what I CAN achieve.

Well done. Thanks.

My hat goes off to Jane today,

she absolutely nailed it. Knocked it out the park.

JANE: 'I am so happy, I can't tell you.'

It's one of the best, most euphoric and wonderful moments,

and erm...it's just precious.

SHE SNIFFS Sorry. They're happy tears!

For me as a personal achievement, definitely up there with some of the most amazing things I've ever done.

Oh, wow...

Thank you!

Well done.

Thank you very much.

Thank you, so much.

Cheers, guys. Champion!

Oh, gosh! That tastes good.

Jane has more determination, more drive, more heart

than I've ever seen on a MasterChef contestant in my whole career.

She's made herself

into the most AMAZING cook,

one of THE best champions I've ever seen.

# I set fire to the rain

# And I threw us into the flames

# When it fell, something died

# Cos I knew that that was the last time

# The last time... #

Do you know what this means for me?

It means the end of a very, very difficult time

and an amazing start to something new. And I can't wait.

I just can't wait to see what this is going to bring me.

My dad always said you don't get something for nothing, you've got to put it in,

and I did that - and I'm standing here now, as winner!

# I let it fall, my heart

# And as it fell you rose to claim it

# It was dark and I was over

# Until you kissed my lips and you saved me

# My hands, they're strong

# But my knees were far too weak

# To stand in your arms... #