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COOKS are renowned for keeping their recipes secret, so when Tom Rennolds made it to the final of the hit BBC Show MasterChef the outcome was just another thing he had to keep under his hat.

Tom, who is from Middleton St George, near Darlington, was vying for the title with Shelina Permalloo and Andrew Kojima.

Shelina went on to win the coveted title in a programme which was shown on Thursday night, with Tom, who now lives in West Yorkshire, pronounced runner-up.

The series was filmed at the end of last year and everyone was sworn to secrecy as to its result.

The 26-year-old plasterer said: “We finished filming at the beginning of December, so I’ve been keeping the secret a long time from my friends and family.

“After we finished, I went back to work as a plasterer as we weren’t allowed to do anything food-related until the final was shown.”

During the final show, Tom and his fellow contestants had to impress judges, John Torode and Gregg Wallace, by cooking a three-course meal in three hours.

Tom said: “It was a fantastic feeling to get to the final, and the other contestants were brilliant. We all got quite close, so I was always going to be happy for any of them if they won.”

Tom moved from County Durham to Redcar, east Cleveland, when he was four, settling in Silsdon, in West Yorkshire, when he was 12.

At 18, he discovered his passion for food and taught himself to cook by watching culinary programmes.

“Being on the show for twoand- a-half months was really fun as we were learning all the time and doing different things,” he said of the MasterChef experience.

Tom, whose father, Ian, still lives in Middleton St George, near Darlington, doesn’t appear to have got the cooking bug from his family.

“My dad’s into going fishing and shooting, (the produce of) which he cooks – although pretty badly,” he said.

“Since I entered the competition, he’s been ringing me up for tips.”

His father, 55, said he was delighted with his son’s success.

“Tom is a very driven lad – when he puts his mind to do something, he does it. I’m proud as punch,” he said.

Tom now plans to get some work experience in top-quality London restaurants and wants to set up his own private dining and catering business.