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Shelina Permalloo

Shelina Permalloo was winner of MasterChef in 2012.

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Winner

After winning MasterChef, Shelina worked on various TV projects such as Lorraine, This Morning, Sunday Brunch, The Food Network and then worked in various London-based restaurants.

Her first book Sunshine on a Plate was published by Ebury Press in 2013 and contains recipes inspired by Mauritius. Her second book The Sunshine Diet was published in 2015.

Shelina went on to open her first restaurant "Lakaz Maman" a Mauritian Street Kitchen in Southampton in April 2016. The Telegraph reviewed the restaurant in 2020 and described it as ‘very heaven’. Shelina also does a lot of private catering and corporate project work including virtual cookalongs and weddings.

Shelina recently appeared on John and Lisa’s Weekend Kitchen as well as a regular judge back on MasterChef. She is also a panellist on the esteemed Radio 4 The Kitchen Cabinet chaired by restaurant critic Jay Rayner.

Shelina is mother to a daughter born in 2017 and was previously a Project Manager in the field of EDI and is passionate about diversity and equality. Her restaurant is held together by an all-female management team which is very rare in the field of hospitality which Shelina is very proud of. Shelina is the Ambassador for Southampton’s City of Culture bid alongside Southampton’s Craig David.

Shelina is very active on social media and can be found on and @shelinacooks and on where she regularly posts videos and stories on food.

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