LUCKNAM Park's sous chef Elly Wentworth, who wowed the judges throughout the latest series of MasterChef: The Professionals, said her time on the show was an incredible experience and is looking forward to the future despite being pipped to the post in the final.

The 24-year-old, who cooked her heart out against 48 others on the show for seven weeks, became the show's latest runner up on Thursday after Glaswegian Gary Maclean served the judges a winning menu.

"It was an amazing experience but I am so glad that it has finished," she admitted. "We filmed it ages ago but we can't say much obviously and after each round I had to be really careful with what I said!"

"For me, my aim was to get to the semi-finals but when I got there I thought I could get to the finals but it has been a lot of hard work! There were lots of skills tests, working in a team such as in the French embassy and there were lots of invention tests.

"I was with my dad last night and it was really hard to watch. I had seen all of them before they aired but I knew this was going to be hard because it was the final and I had talked a bit about personal things but I am really happy and I know there are a lot of exciting opportunities ahead."

Elly, who was told in the final that her lamb served three ways was the best dish she had cooked on the show, also admitted that it was great seeing thousands of people on Twitter say they had been inspired by her work.

"I had 3,000 people follow me on Twitter after the final and I have had a lot of younger chefs message me saying I am an inspiration and they have got back into cooking or looking at other ways of progressing and for me, that is what it is all about."

The 24-year-old has also been praised by executive head chef Hywel Jones, who Elly calls an inspiration to the hospitality industry and her rise in success.

"Elly has been outstanding throughout the whole MasterChef competition," he said. "Whilst it was no surprise to me that she did so well, it was inspiring to see the way she progressed. She is amazing and it has been a big morale boost for the team as well.

"We have got another three female chefs in the team and the kitchen is notorious for lacking female chefs but now there seems to be an emergence of that and I am confident Elly will be at the forefront of that movement."

Lucknam Park's managing director Claire Randall added: "We are all immensely proud of Elly's success throughout MasterChef: The Professionals and in particular reaching the final - a phenomenal achievement for someone so young and a reflection of her immense talent.

"Elly started off that first week with amazing comments and a 10/10 and it really set the tone and she seemed to excel from there. She has not only inspired people here, she has stopped people in their tracks for a moment."?