Newark’s Claire Syrenne, MasterChef finalist, talks about finding herself again after battling postnatal depression and filming the BBC1 hit cooking show

Those of you who are fans of the popular BBC One cooking show MasterChef may recognise Claire Syrenne’s familiar face.

Over the past eight weeks, Claire, from Newark, has been wowing judges and professionals alike with her unique cooking style, which saw her make it all the way to the finals of the coveted show.

For Claire, cooking has always been something she has been passionate about, starting as a teenager and started cooking for “everybody, everywhere” as she got older.

“I’m very much a Jack of all trades, master of none,” she joked, “But I love all different types of food like classic British meals and puds but I also love Asian, African and Caribbean food, and learning more along the way.”

Claire, who moved to Newark in 2022 with her husband Paul and children Evelynne, 11, and Henry, 9, to be closer to family, has been open about her struggles with postnatal depression and how channelling her thoughts and feelings into masterpieces in the kitchen helped her to overcome her mental health struggles.

”I was very lucky that I found a GP who explained to me that my brain couldn’t tell me that I was doing anything productive, so to write down what matters.

“I realised what mattered was feeding my children and Paul — it wouldn’t be the most exciting food, but I did it despite being so unwell, so I started a journal.

“We are in such a food crisis in this country and people worry about feeding their children and how to cook for their family and feel so much guilt that about how to cook for their family.

“But you’re doing your best — you’re providing for them and it’s a daily act of love, to feed your family and put food on the table for them.”

In 2020, she began writing her blog, One Tough Cooker, about the food she was cooking for her family which she said helped to rebuild her confidence and inspired her to become more adventurous with her cooking.

“It gave me my worth and saw me through,” she said.

She was inspired to apply for the hit TV cooking show thanks to Paul’s love and support:

“I’m so lucky because he never wavered knowing that I was still in there, the intrusive thoughts that I had were terrifying, but he never looked at me as the illness, but saw me, and I’m incredibly lucky.

“He said that I should apply for the show as a way to bookend my journey,” she said, “It was such a nice thing to say and I never thought I would be accepted — I hate to admit that Paul was right!

“Seeing me on TV doing what makes me happy and having fun, he was so pleased and no-one knows better than him what it meant to me.”

When she got the call to tell her she had been accepted onto Masterchef, Claire said she was so excited that she leapt up and spilled a drink — and just two weeks later, she was filming for the second heat of the show.

Claire continued to impress the judges week on week with her delicious dishes, and said that her favourite to make was the Risalamane — a Danish rice pudding dish with an almond in the middle as a nod to her Danish mother-in-law — which is a traditional dish made for families at Christmas time and the person who finds the almond in the middle is usually given a prize.

She said that at first she was aware of the cameras, but in time the focus became solely on concentrating on cooking — except for one cameraman who always seemed to know when something was about to happen and captured the moment her trifle slid sideways in one memorable incident!

“It was a “surreal” experience to be in the final,” she said, “My first thought was who would look after the children, but it was so wonderful to get to do every single challenge and that there was no bit of the experience that I missed.”

Fishmonger Harry Maguire, from London, was named MasterChef Champion 2025, with Claire and fellow amateur chef Sophie Sugrue runners-up.

Claire said that the support from the people of Newark had been incredible:

“I’ve had so many lovely messages from people saying how great it is to see women in their 40s and older mums push forward with their careers and dreams — it’s given me a huge boost to go after things that make me happy.

“The Newark community was amazing, I’m a newbie to the town and I’d like to say thank you to all of the people of Newark for their support.”

Now that the mayhem from filming is over, Claire said that the next step of her journey would be to publish a cook book and attend food festivals.

“A cook book would be my final chapter and will be a really special thing for me,” she added.

- Anyone who feels they need to seek help for postnatal depression, or any mental health condition, is urged to visit their GP to seek help in the first instance. More information is available on the Mind website here.