Cabinet Office official Frankie Dunn has bowed out of the MasterChef competition in the second round of the semi-final, having survived a series of culinary challenges on the prime time BBC show.
Frankie, who joined the civil service in 2024 after 12 years as a chemistry teacher, put in a strong performance in the first round of the semis, in which she and her fellow contestants cooked for one hundred guests at the York Railway Museum. She and teammate Matt aced the technical challenge of producing one hundred custard tarts topped with poached rhubarb, served with a syllabub roché.
Judges and guests alike were blown away by the dessert course – a success which Frankie puts down to strong teamwork and prior experience of stressful situations: “It’s like being head of Year 9 all over again,” she joked, as she and Matt measured out the portions for service.
“We just had each other’s backs the whole way through,” she said afterwards. “It was a privilege to be a part of such an incredible event in such an amazing setting. Winning because of our planning approach and communication was a great confidence boost too.”
Having earned a place in the next round, the stakes were raised again as the contestants were challenged to produce a dish inspired by a loved one. As judge Anna Haugh put it: “All great food comes from the heart.”
Frankie chose to cook a Spanish dish dedicated to her husband Rob – a king prawn paella arancini with a green bean purée and prawn bisque, inspired by their time spent together in Spain.
While the judges admired the flavours of the arancini and described the bisque as “delightful”, the dish did not quite hit the mark overall. “I feel a bit deflated,’ Frankie said, on receiving the judges’ feedback. “I’d be devastated to leave now.”
Frankie’s premonition proved correct, and she was knocked out of the competition, having reached the final six.
“I feel an enormous sense of pride,” she says, when CSW asks her to reflect on her time on the show. “Over 12,000 people applied for this series, so to be in the 48 starting contestants was already a huge achievement. To be standing in that room as one of the final six, especially among such talented people, makes me incredibly proud.”
She has made friends for life, she adds, among the contestants, the crew and the hosts. “I’ve got a huge tribe of new foodie friends, who were brilliant fun to cook alongside, and a huge source of support. I can't wait to see what everyone does next.”
Another takeaway from the show is her improved confidence and capacity for level-headedness under stress. “I got a lot of messages from well-wishers saying that I come across very calm, which is something I wasn't expecting!” she says. “I did learn a lot about myself through the experience.”
There are so many highlights that it might be easier to pick out the low points, she says. “Burning the asparagus” is one such moment, she says with a smile.
How about the dish that sent her home? “I’ve thought long and hard about this,” she says. “I think perhaps I overcomplicated that final dish, and as a result it strayed a little too far from my authentic style of food.”
Other than that, she says, “I wouldn't change a thing. I gave it everything I had, tried to be fully present in the moment, and most of all, enjoy the experience. Which I did!”
Will she be bringing the lessons from MasterChef into the Cabinet Office? “Absolutely,” she says. “During the experience I practiced my dishes over and over, tasting, tweaking, improving until I was happy.” This is the test and learn approach, she says, for which she is a big advocate. “Failure is part of the learning journey, not the end destination.”
While she is sad to have been knocked out before the final, Frankie says she is left with a huge sense of pride at what she achieved: “What an experience!” she says.
MasterChef continues on BBC1 at 8pm on 29 May, with the final scheduled for 5 June.