The Celebrity Best Home Cook final was last night - here’s who was crowned winner

The Celebrity Best Home Cook final was nothing short of tense as three finalists competed for the crown. The first ever celebrity version of the BBC cooking show culminated last night (17 February) and fans were glued to the screen as Ed Balls, Tom Read Wilson and Rachel Johnson fought to be the winner. Ten celebrities were pitted against each other when the show kicked off in January and it has provided a whole new level of lockdown entertainment. So, who won Celebrity Best Home Cook, who was runner up - and how can you watch the final on catch up? Here is everything you need to know. What happened in the final? Judge Chris Bavin tasked the finalists with preparing a butternut squash dish. While former politician Ed Balls opted for a Thai butternut squash and courgette curry, journalist Rachel Johnson made a Thai lemongrass curry, and presenter and actor Tom Read Wilson chose a sweet butternut squash pie. Balls’ curry was so good it automatically earned him a place in the final round, with Johnson and Read Wilson left battling it out in an eliminator challenge. Johnson’s Croque en Bouche did not impress as much as some of her earlier dishes, and she was eliminated. It was down to Balls and Read Wilson to fight for the crown in Marry Berry’s final picnic challenge. Balls made a crab and samphire tart with herby lamb cutlets, chargrilled broccoli and asparagus with a banana bread and cream cheese frosting. Read Wilson rustled up mini salmon asparagus quiches, chicken liver pate with gruyere cheese scones and mini chocolate orange cakes. It was then down to the judges to make their final decision. Who won Celebrity Best Home Cook 2021? The judges were so impressed with Balls’ spread that he took the crown, with Berry announcing him as the show’s winner. The former politician, 53, dedicated his victory to his mum Carolyn, who has dementia. After he was announced as winner, he said: "Tom and Rachel are both great cooks but I was thinking of my mum and her teaching me to cook all those years ago. "She might recognise me on the TV now - she has dementia - but she will probably be watching and I would like to believe that she would be proud that the recipes that she taught her son are now not only popular in our family but actually winning a BBC show as well. That was a nice moment." He was presented with the golden spoon trophy. Balls was a Labour MP for Morley and Outwood for 10 years from 2005 to 2015, while serving as the Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2011 until 2015. After he was unseated in the 2015 general election, he became a senior fellow at Harvard University Kennedy School’s Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government, and a visiting professor to the Policy Institute at King’s College London. Balls also acted as chairman of Norwich City FC for three years. He’s no stranger to television as he appeared on Strictly Come Dancing in 2014. Who is runner up Tom Read Wilson? Read Wilson, 34, narrowly missed out on winning the celebrity cooking show, but he has become incredibly popular with fans during his appearance. Before Celebrity Best Home Cook, the runner up was best known for his role as the receptionist on Channel 4’s Celebs Go Dating. He has also featured on Celebrity Juice, Britain’s Got More Talent and CelebAbility. In 2016, he auditioned for The Voice with a stellar performance of Accentuate the Positive. However, no judge turned around in time so he didn’t progress further into the competition. From Berkshire, Read Wilson attended the Royal Academy of Music where he studied Musical Theatre. He currently lives in West London. Read Wilson is private when it comes to his love life, but he has previously shared that he is gay. Speaking to Pink News, he said: “I always say I don’t physically have a type except radically different to me because I always think two-thirds of beauty lies in fascination.’ How can I watch the final? All episodes of Celebrity Best Home Cook series one are available to watch on BBC iPlayer, including the final.