'Gordon Ramsay's Future Food Stars' winner triumphs after surviving semi-final drama

Gordon Ramsay's Future Food Stars named its winner on Thursday night as Victoria Omobuwajo, a week after a dramatic semi-final where a rival contestant almost sabotaged her chances.

Omobuwajo, 28, was chosen by chef Ramsay for a £150,000 investment and his mentoring in her plantain snack and smoothie business in the BBC One contest.

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Viewers were pleased to see her win as she nearly missed out on a place in the final when semi-finalist Valentina Fois sabotaged their teamwork task by walking out of the challenge the week before, leaving Omobuwajo with no recipe.

The semi-final task had been to work in pairs to create a pasta dish and recipe card that could be followed by cookery students, but Fois refused to weigh out ingredients and then walked out on Omobuwajo, leaving her to struggle through the recipe alone which ended up with various errors.

However, Fois was sent home in the semi-final and Omobuwajo went up against free-from brownies business owner Leah, and Steph, whose business sells Japanese-inspired soft drinks, in the final.

Following her win after the finalists presented their business plans, Omobuwajo said: “I’m feeling overjoyed. It definitely hasn’t sunk in yet. I’m so happy. Working with Gordon is a huge deal – it’s even better than the investment.

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“I’m super excited, I could literally scream. Now the fun times begin, it’s a dream come true.”

Ramsay said: “A truly deserving winner. The other two finalists were incredible but Victoria just edged it.

“I said at the very start I was looking not just to invest in the business, but in the person behind it. I couldn’t be any happier in my decision and I’m so excited to see what the future holds.”

One viewer tweeted: "Victoria’s win is well deserved cus the plantain IN a smoothie concept was genius. GENIUS."

Someone else added: "Really happy for Victoria. So well deserved."

Another viewer agreed: "Thrilled to bits for Victoria. Worthy winner."

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