A MALVERN woman proved to be a whizz in the kitchen by scooping the top prize on Come Dine With Me last week.

Lucy Hird, a former pupil of The Chase, served up the winning combination of food, hospitality and entertainment on the popular Channel Four cooking show, helping herself to £1,000 in the process.

Inspired by her travels around Thailand a couple of years ago, Lucy, who works in PR, dished up a night with a Thai theme.

The 26-year-old served three starters of sticky ribs, fragrant chicken drumsticks and Thai crab cakes, followed by a main of Pad Thai and a Massaman curry with sticky rice, and Thai syllabub with dragon fruit jus for dessert.

Ms Hird said: “I was really confident in my cooking, my mum and sister are both excellent chefs and cooking was part of growing up for me. I definitely tried to do too much but it paid off in the end.”

Away from the food, she continued the theme by demonstrating and teaching some Thai massage moves to her dinner guests.

Having enjoyed her time on the show, she cites sword fighting with one contestant and seeing another dressed in a shiny, red onesie as her highlights.

“It was just such a fantastic week and I met a group of people who will be friends for life. I would recommend it to anyone,” she said.

Calling herself “horribly competitive”, she added the win was the icing on the cake. “I was overjoyed to be rewarded for all my hard work, I would say blood, sweat and tears went into it, but that doesn’t sound too appetising.”

“It may sound cheesy but the whole experience was so amazing, winning was the huge bonus on top.”

Ms Hird has already put the money to good use. She has donated £100 to a friend who is raising money for an orphanage in Cameroon, and has given another £100 to her husband for cleaning up afterwards. She plans to use the rest towards a move to London.