MasterChef: The Professionals series 12 finally reached its conclusion on Thursday, December 19th with one of the closest finals the show has ever seen.
Even judge Marcus Wareing couldn’t call who would take the 2019 crown!
The three chefs who made it to the final were Exose Grant Lopo-Ndinga, Olivia Burt, and Stu Deeley. All three impressed with their final three dishes, but it was Stu who wowed and had a “faultless” dish according to Marcus.
So, who is MasterChef’s winner, Stu?

Meet Stu from MasterChef
Stuart “Stu” Deeley is 27-year-old from Birmingham. He is currently the head chef of fine dining restaurant, The Wilderness in Birmingham.
Stu first studied Halesowen College Stuart went on to Simpsons Restaurant as one of his first serious jobs in the industry.
In his first MasterChef appearance, Stu said:
I started off working in pubs and hotels, learning the ropes. I contacted a Michelin star restaurant in Birmingham [Simpsons], I ended up working there for three years and that was almost a finishing school for me.
He currently lives in Birmingham with his partner, Natasha and their son, Jack.
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Seriously rooting for Stu @thewildernessjq on #mastercheftheprofessionals 👍🤞🙌🤞👍
— Sass Boucher MSc (@SassBoucher) November 20, 2019
Stu in the MasterChef 2019 final
Stu’s unique starter wowed all three judges. It was a soy and mirin smoked salmon ballotine with crispy salmon skin, cherry tomatoes marinated in dashi vinegar, chilli flavoured taramasalata, smoked almonds and sorrel, served with a dashi infused tomato essence.
For his main, Stu created his “faultless” main. It was a lovage and rosemary brined guinea fowl breast, topped with a yeast and hazelnut crumb, soy glazed guinea fowl thigh, hen-of-the-woods mushrooms, celeriac purée, celeriac barigoule, lovage emulsion and a spiced guinea fowl sauce.
To complete his show stopping finale, Stu played with sweet and savoury in his dessert. It was a cep and milk chocolate cookie dusted in cep and coffee powder. This was accompanied by a milk chocolate and yoghurt cream, milk chocolate tuile, cep caramel, coffee gel, salted milk ice cream and finished with a coffee and milk foam.
No surprise, they were a smash hit with all three judges.

The Wilderness in Birmingham
The Wilderness is the restaurant creation of chef Alex Claridge. The restaurant is theatrical in quality and has served an interesting menu over the years. It even featured ants at one point, back in 2016!
It is unconfirmed when Stu became head chef of The Wilderness but he has definitely been in the role throughout 2019.
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Does Stu have social media?
Yes!
If you were a fan of Stu’s on MasterChef: The Professionals and want to know more about him, then you have to check him out on Instagram. Not only does he share all the best pics of his delicious looking cookery but he posts adorable pictures of Natasha and Jack.
Follow Stu on Instagram @stuart_deeley.
He also has a Twitter account which he regularly uses, which you can check out here.
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