"This is an escape for me and one I never saw coming. My heart's not in law and cooking was always my childhood dream."

Most fourth year law students are buckling down for the hardest year of their lives but Kate Rodrigues has deferred her place at university to focus on her first love – cooking. "I've deferred my degree for six months which is a pretty big sacrifice but I'd be happy to defer it further. It's boring as hell and my heart's not in it."

Straight-talking Kate has always loved cooking and her dream is to be a pastry chef. "The first thing I ever made was an apple pie when I was eight years old and I even made the pastry base from scratch. My mum and grandmother are both fabulous cooks and a real inspiration. I used to spend every day of my school vacation cooking and a lot of what I know is self-taught. I used to sit for hours baking my own bread. I had to push it to the back of my mind at university to concentrate on my degree so it would be amazing if my childhood dream could now come true."

Although concerned about their risk-taking daughter, Kate's large family are supportive of her decision and want her to succeed. "My family are concerned but at the same time they are aware that this is really important to me. They don't want me wasting three years of law school but know I can go back to it if needs be."

Kate's parents are divorced but her family is still close and she has a large family of step-brothers and sisters. Interestingly enough, she encouraged her Mum to apply for this show in the first instance. "I heard the ad on the radio and originally encouraged my Mum to apply. She didn't want to as she has her own dental practice and didn't want to give that up. She loves cooking like me but for her it's more of a hobby so I did the application. Since that day I don't think my mind has strayed from food. It's been my sole focus for the past couple of months which is awesome as I know how difficult it is to break into the culinary industry."

"I'm so glad I've kept up my love of cooking. I cook for friends at university and I've got one speciality dish I've mastered which is an Indian spiced tea mousse. It's actually my own invention and it took me ages to master. I think they were pretty impressed by it."

Although the baby of the competition, Kate thinks she is one of the strongest contestants. "I might not have the experience a lot of other people do, but I make up for it with enthusiasm. I'm willing to take the judges' criticism and am willing to improve on the dish. A few other people here are less willing to take that criticism, they take it harder."