A BLACKBURN sandwich shop owner is cooking on gas after being named the winner of Channel 4’s Come Dine With Me.

Nicola Donnelly, 35, originally from Feniscowles and owner of Rae’s Wholefoods in Kentmere Drive Blackburn, was presented with £1,000 after out entertaining her three competitors on Wednesday night.

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Miss Donnelly applied to be on the show via Twitter and was quickly placed in front of the cameras. She said: “I just thought why not? I wanted to go out and give it a go, I wanted to challenge myself and see if I could win it.”

Miss Donnelly cooked Salmon for starter, a Caribbean curry for the main and finished off with fresh fruit and chocolate crepes. The other contestants were Kerry Barker from Preston, Mark Cookson from Hoghton, and Tim Lipscomb, a the vicar from Preston.

Miss Donnelly said: “I was the last one to cook so by the time the cameras got to my house I was used to them being there, it felt normal.

“I don’t do stress and I don’t do worrying, I just got on with it and enjoyed the cooking. The strangest part of filming was while you were eating, they were right in your face.”

Miss Donnelly said: “Being a really outspoken, honest person, I didn’t ever have a problem with rating people’s food as it was my honest opinion.

“The worst part was the waiting around to film everything, as it was December it got very cold and the camera crews would have you walk to someone’s house 10 times to film you from a variety of angles.”