Who won MasterChef 2023 final? What's next for this year's winner Chariya Khattiyot

Chariya Khattiyot has been crowned the winner of the iconic BBC One series MasterChef. Khattiyot fought off competition from a total of 44 contestants over the course of an intense eight week process - including runners-up Anurag Aggarwal and Omar Foster.

The Hampshire based cook follows in the footsteps of previous winners such as Eddie Scott and Tom Thodes. But what are Khattiyot’s plans for the future after her triumph and what is the prize for winning MasterChef? Here is everything you need to know.

Who is Chariya Khattiyot?

Khattiyot is a 40-year-old master coffee roaster from Hampshire. She recently became the 19th amateur cook to claim the coveted prize of becoming BBC MasterChef champion.

Khattiyot triumphed at the end of eight exciting weeks of MasterChef culinary challenges, which culminated in a cook off in the final against Anurag Aggarwal and Omar Foster.

After her victory Khattiyot expressed her delight she said: “This is unbelievable. It means the world, the sun, the moon and everything to me. I don’t think anything can top this. I’m so happy!

“This just proves that if you dream something and you really work hard and you never give up, you can get it. That’s what my grandad said to me - never give up. He would be so proud of me.”

The judges John Torode and Gregg Wallace both gave Khattiyot rave reviews throughout the series and Torode described her as a “proper master.”

Wallace added that she was one of the “most creative and skillful cooks” that he had ever seen.

What was on Chariya Khattiyot’s winning menu?

Khattiyot’s winning menu started with a Thai lotus tuille, filled with coconut jelly, fried king prawns, pomelo fruit salad, flavoured with honey, palm, sugar and coconut.

Her main course consisted of traditional Northern Thai Khantoke sharing platter of wagyu sirloin steak in hung lay curry sauce, minced lamb in a spicy tomato and shrimp paste, jackfruit and scallop salad, sticky rice and scallop crisp crackers.

Her dessert included strawberries and cream - a strawberry jelly and vanilla cremeux ring, filled with macerated strawberry in strawberry liquor, pistachio sponge, strawberry shards and a strawberry and Thai basil sauce.

What is the prize for winning MasterChef?

Rather than money, recognition, prestige and exposure is the main appeal for winning the contest, with Khattiyot taking home the much coveted trophy. In the past finalists have gone on to open their own restaurants or have launched a culinary career.