Mike Curran (37) is from Limerick and lives in Clare. He is married to Olivia for four years and they have two children Danny (3), and Lilly Marie (5 months). He works as a District Manager with Xtravision and previously worked as a store manager for O’ Briens wines.

Mike has been cooking since he was 12. His mum, who trained to be a cook and worked with contract caterers, taught him the basics and she always insisted on ‘No wastage, use everything’. His dad was also adventurous with food. When he was 20 he went to University in Brighton and took a job as a cook at weekends in a local pub to cover rent. Mike would love to open a restaurant near the sea in Kilkee, using local seasonal produce. He hopes to improve his skills and refine his cooking by taking part in MasterChef.

He cooked a Confit of duck salad and citrus dressing to make it into the audition stage. His audition dish was Asian Inspired Crab Spring Roll with Pickled Ginger, Japanese dipping sauce and Tempura Chive Flowers.