Cumbria could have the next TV cooking star.

Matt Campbell has wowed judges in the latest series of MasterChef: The Professionals with his adventurous style, as well as foodies across the country.

He usually spends his year travelling around the world working and learning new cooking styles and skills, but has cleared his diary for 2018 to deal with the interest his cooking has stirred up.

"The amount of feedback I have had is overhwleming, literally hundreds of people from across the country," he said.

"I have had offers for TV shows and cookery books."

His ground-breaking dishes have wowed Michelin-starred judges Marcus Wareing and Monica Galetti and presenter Gregg Wallace.

Matt, 28, is staying at home in Kendal with his mum Carmen for the duration of the series - and so he can weigh up what his future may hold.

What Jamie Oliver has done to encourage people to cook and how to cook is an inspiration.

He doesn't want to be 'the next Jamie Oliver' but said: "I admire what he has done.

"I'm just representing a different style.

"There are a lot of nutritious ingredients that have not got a voice. People are not paying much attention to them. I want to be a brdge between the gastronomy world and the health world.

"This is why I decided to go on MasterChef.

"There is a real movement at the moment with wellbeing and people are becoming more conscious about what they eat."

In last week's show he produced the first vegan dish to be cooked on the show - a dessert made almost entirely out of Jerusalem artichokes.

The flavours and quality astonished judges Galetti and Wallace, though Wareing was slightly less impressed and said he found it "too dense".

Matthew was pleased with his reviews and even made the cheeky comeback about Marcus: "He is more in his two star (Michelin) classic ways."

Matt was studying law and Spanish for A-levels when he decided to taken up the cooking course at Kendal College.

From there, he worked at L'Enclume, perfecting the art of fine dining and pushing the boundaries of gastronomy and for the past eight years, he has been a private chef as well as working as a freelance chef in restaurants around the world.

He works during the winter months, then travels during the summer.

"I have always loved travelling and I got wanderlust when I was 21," he explained.

"I have done cookery courses in Thailand, India and Peru and worked in stages in restaurants around the world, including Iceland last year.

"There is so much to learn from around the world."

While Matt continues into next week's semi-finals of the BBC2 show, Cumbria's other chef was evicted.

Ryan Blackburn, who runs the acclaimed Old Stamp House in Ambleside, admitted he was relieved that his part in the show was over: "I didn't have the time needed for this kind of competition. The restaurant and customers always have to be the priority!

"It was a great experience and I'm glad I gave it a go. Good luck to all the remaining chefs."

Matt, who was runner-up in the BBC Young Chef of the Year competition as a 20-year-old,is not allowed to say how well he does in the rest of the series, which continues of Tuesday.

But he added: "Monica and Marcus are amazing, I really enjoyed cooking for them.

"I really enjoyed the show, it was an amazing experience. You are not only cooking for the judges but for the whole country."

Masterchef is back on our screens again tonight.