Junior sous chef Chloe McCoy, 26, arrived in Alderney shortly before the pandemic hit, working at The Georgian House.
Miss McCoy did two summers and a winter season in Alderney, followed by a winter season in Meribel and returned to The Georgian House for another summer.
Friends and former colleagues at The Georgian House gathered together to watch the first episode.
‘I worked with her very closely, it’s quite a small team, even over the summer, and we became good friends, we still stay in contact,’ said chef Jamie Chapman.
‘I’m super proud of her, she’s come a really long way since she was the shy girl that I interviewed to come and work out here, she deserves to be where she is.’
Miss McCoy studied professional cookery at Kent College and moved back home to work in London before her stint in the Channel Islands.
She currently works at The Tin Shed in Notting Hill.
She had to cook a carrot schnitzel for the skills test, which judge Monica Galetti said was impressive cooking, while judge Marcus Wareing described it as excellent.
‘It’s an exceptional piece of cookery,’ he told the young chef.
‘That’s probably one of the best skills tests I’ve seen in 10 years.’
She then went on to cook a lamb cannon, with a pea puree, tomato fondue and lamb-fat roasted potatoes, followed by a cardamom panacotta and raspberries.
Judge Gregg Wallace described the lamb as perfect, while Mr Wareing said they were two fabulous dishes.
‘Great cookery, great flavour,’ he said.
Some of the food Miss McCoy made on the show, she used to make at The Georgian House.
‘She’s part of The Georgian family. Because Chloe arrived as Covid hit, we all became really close as we were stuck on the island. It’s quite surreal watching her on TV and seeing how she’s progressed,’ said Mr Chapman.
‘She’s always been a very talented chef, very professional right from the beginning. Even at such a young age, she had an adult mindset in the kitchen.
‘Her attention to detail has always been something that’s really impressed me and her pastry skills are second to none, so I was not surprised to see what she did on the show.’
The show is following 32 professional chefs competing to be named the best.
Miss McCoy has made it through to the final 12 and will back on TV screens for the quarter-finals.
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