Shropshire MasterChef star launches new private chef business

A woman from Shropshire who made it to the last six in MasterChef this year is taking a leap into the unknown by launching a new independent food business.

Frankie Dunn, who was born in Shrewsbury and grew up in Much Wenlock, is now a private chef after being inspired by her time on the hit BBC cookery show MasterChef.

The former chemistry teacher now lives in Cheshire but still regularly comes back to the county to visit her parents or take part in events such as the Ludlow Food Festival, where she was a guest speaker last weekend.

Frankie worked as a teacher for 12 years, including teaching in South Africa for a period, and most recently as a member of the civil service in the Cabinet Office.

However, after reaching the final six in MasterChef and thoroughly enjoying her time rediscovering her love of cooking, Frankie has decided to take a break from work to pursue her new private chef business full-time.

“When I went on MasterChef it prompted me to re-evaluate things and I realised how much I enjoyed cooking and how much people enjoyed my cooking, and that is what led me to where I am now,” Frankie told the Shropshire Star.

Her new business is called Feasting with Frankie and specialises in private chef hire for parties, corporate events, as well as for demonstration at food festivals and events.

Frankie is available for hire via her website.

She originally started Feasting with Frankie part-time to fit alongside her civil service job.

But after plenty of public interest in her services, Frankie decided to take the plunge and take on the business as her full-time job.

Talking about her time on MasterChef, Frankie said: “The whole experience was incredible. I went in thinking ‘this will be fun for a day’, that is how far I thought I would get. I thought, ‘if I get an apron I will be really happy’.

“I did the first day and absolutely loved it - every part of the experience. I loved meeting new people. I loved the challenge. I loved the competitive aspect.

“I really enjoyed the menu and recipe development side of things as well - testing things out.”

Asked about what she loves most about her hopes for the future of her new business, Frankie said: “I want it to succeed, obviously, and I want to be able to do this full-time.

“I think more than anything, it is not so much about the finance and whether I can afford for it to be full-time, I want it to be something I really enjoy doing.

“But as long as people are still enjoying my food and are still coming to these events and still hiring me for things, then I will still be around to do them because I am just absolutely loving it.”