James Nathan is best known as the winner of the BBC

BBC

The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

's MasterChef 2008, having beaten Emily Ludolf

Emily Ludolf

Emily Ludolf first became famous for being in 2008, at the age of 18, the youngest-ever finalist in the BBC TV show MasterChef, a reality tv show where amateur cooks attempt haute cuisine. In the finals Ludolf competed against Jonny Stevenson and James Nathan, the latter eventually winning the...

and Jonny Stevenson in the grand final.

Along with his wife Linsey Stroud, James was co-author of The Trailrider Guide - Spain: Single Track Mountain Biking in Spain.

A barrister, he practised criminal law in Bristol for two years before moving to Spain with the intention of opening a restaurant. Unable to get a permit from the Spanish authorities, Nathan returned to the UK and applied for the MasterChef competition.

Since winning the MasterChef title he has worked at Richard Corrigan’s restaurant, Bentleys Oyster Bar in Piccadilly, and at Michael Caines’ Michelin-starred Bath Priory in Bath. He is now working at Rick Stein’s Seafood Restaurant in Padstow, Cornwall.