St Andrews chef Jamie Scott will be hoping not to wilt under the pressure when he lines up in the final round of MasterChef: The Professionals this week.
But the 27-year-old from Arbroath who works at Rocca Restaurant in St Andrews will not have had to look far for advice on what to expect in the final of the popular cookery competition.
Scott Davies, head chef at The Adamson in St Andrews, reached the final three of last year’s competition, where he and Adam Handling from Dundee were just pipped to the title by Horsham cook Steven Edwards.
But Scott and Jamie don’t just work in the same town – Scott worked alongside Jamie when at Rocca.
Remarkably, this year’s other Scottish finalist, Brian McLeish from Aberdeen, also previously worked in St Andrews.
He was a cook at the Fairmont Hotel alongside last year’s other beaten finalist, Adam Handling.
Both Jamie and Brian have been picking up plenty of support online but Scott said the pressure in the final round of MasterChef is something that it is impossible to prepare for.
congrats to #StAndrews chef Jamie Scott: through to the final of this year’s Masterchef. Good luck for the big one!
— Welcome to Fife (@welcometofife) December 4, 2014
Scott said: “It’s really nerve-wracking because there aren’t that many chefs left. You’ve got about 20 cameramen and editors watching you and the three judges.”
However, he said the most difficult aspect is not letting slip who wins the competition.
“The programme is filmed over three months so you do get a lot of questions. You’re out the business quite a lot so the bosses do want to know what’s going on,” he said.
Scott, who came 12th in the Courier Impact 100 last week, said just reaching the final of the popular show has changed his life.
“It’s helped me in a lot of ways. It’s helped give me more confidence and I’ve done about 20 cookery demonstrations over the past year,” he said.
“The Adamson is quite a young business but we were doing about 700 covers a day in summer. People who come still want to speak to me and have their pictures taken.”
And he said the success of so many chefs with St Andrews connections on Masterchef is helping to build up the town’s reputation as one of Scotland’s culinary hotspots.
“A lot of people are saying there must be something in the water, but it is putting Fife on the map,” he said.
“I used to work with Jamie. He was my sous chef and is a great chef and a really good guy.”