All-male MasterChef finale as Kenny, Nawamin and David make it through

MasterChef will have an all-male finale as contestants Kenny Tutt, Nawamin Pinpathomrat and David Crichton will go head to head to be crowned champion.

The penultimate episode of the series saw Portuguese-born Alex Jorge knocked out at the final hurdle, after the amateur cooks faced a tricky fine dining challenge.

They each had five hours to recreate an iconic dish from Michelin-starred London restaurant Dinner by Heston Blumenthal – some of which have more than 100 steps – while mentored by its chef Ashley Palmer-Watts, who has worked alongside Blumenthal for 18 years.

They also had to cook one exceptional dish for MasterChef judges John Torode and Gregg Wallace, as well as Palmer-Watts, and it was Jorge who was eventually eliminated from the competition.

Tutt, a bank manager, and Crichton, an airline pilot, both admitted to being “really surprised” to have made the final.

Tutt told the Press Association: “I’d done some really good cooking throughout the competition, but because I’d made mistakes here and there… to get this far was an absolute dream.”

He added: “I did feel I definitely earned my place to stand in line with the other guys, though.”

Tutt said his stand-out dish was an Italian-inspired dessert he cooked for renowned chef Theo Randall in a previous round.

Asked what he feels makes him stand out from the others, Crichton said: “My technical ability. I don’t make many mistakes.”

Crichton said an inventive guinea fowl dish he produced, and the praise he got from the judges, was a high point for him during the series.

Pinpathomrat, a doctor from Thailand who stunned the judges in another episode when he served up a dish of piranha heads, said he thinks he has got as far as the final because he “sticks to my guns” when cooking his bold dishes.

He added that working as a medical scientist has helped him with precision needed to be a successful chef, and that the turning point for him was when he created the coconut-flavoured swan lake dish with blue custard earlier in the competition.

He said that cooking for Torode and Wallace has not been scary, adding: “I think I’m lucky, I have a positive-thinking mind… It is a real honour.”

Each of the three finalists said they hope to continue in the food industry after the show ends, in different ways.

Pinpathomrat said he wants to combine food with charity, and to open a restaurant that can help others, while Crichton hopes to pen a cookbook that can help people create fine food at home on a budget.

Tutt said he is unsure what the future may hold, and added: “I’ve got to see how things pan out… I’m going to keep cooking, and see if there are any offers.

“If something comes through, that would be amazing.”

MasterChef: The Final airs on BBC One at 8.30pm, Friday.