 At Stanley High School, he found he had a natural talent for cooking although he felt embarrassed that he was the only boy in the home economics class. He went on to attend Southport College, where he took a three-year City & Guilds course in catering. While a student he participated in 1985's Merseyside Junior Masterchef, although he was eliminated in the heats after his self-created dish' Flap a la Chatte d 'une Chienne' (a pilchard-flavoured flapjack) was described by guest judge Delia Smith as'tasting like a dog's naughty bits'.
