A pudding maker from Perthshire was knocked out of a new Apprentice-style television game show fronted by Michelin star chef Gordon Ramsay last week.
Michelle Maddox of Abernethy-based Clootie McToot Dumplings was one of a group of 12 food and drink entrepreneurs who signed up to take part in Future Food Stars with the winner guaranteed to receive a £150,000 investment in their business from Ramsay.
The BBC One show saw Michelle work in teams with other contestants to try and impress the Hell’s Kitchen star each week by competing in a series of challenges including preparing hot meals for mountain rescuers halfway up an incline in the Lake District and a feast for 12 diners in a wood in Bucks.
The series also saw the married mum-of-two cooking in a street food shack serving toasties on a beach in Cornwall, a fast-food diner in Oxfordshire and a delivery only Indian restaurant in central London.
She was also required to jump off a 40-foot high cliff into the sea while she was in Cornwall and free climb and abseil down into an 180-foot deep cave in Somerset during some of the show’s more bizarre and daring challenges.
However, Michelle was told in the latest episode of the series screened last Thursday she hadn’t made it through to the final after Ramsay judged she had failed to stick up for herself during a challenge to come up with a vegetarian range of grab-and-go meals for children aged seven and under.
Ramsay said during a brutal assessment of her performance: “I had to let Michelle go because she was constantly pointing out problems after the event.”
But Michelle has since insisted the only way is up after competing in the show, the final episode of which will be screened on May 20. She told her social media followers last week: “This experience has been an amazing journey for me and one I will never forget.
“Although I failed to win the investment, I am extremely proud of myself and the person I have
become.
“So what’s next? As I now export to the USA and continue to expand into hospitality and the retail sector, I would love for Clootie McToot to become a well-known global brand. Nothing is impossible!”
