by Emma Grove

A semi-finalist in a TV cooking show says the experience has changed his mind about going into the industry.

John Pearce was part of Kent’s four-man team on ITV1 show Taste the Nation.

The show pits county against county as the teams cook with local produce to win the Taste the Nation Cup.

Embalmer Mr Pearce, who does work with Hogbens, Sheerness, said he thoroughly enjoyed the experience of being on television and working with the celebrity chefs.

But although he thought he wanted to own his own restaurant, he is now not so sure.

Mr Pearce said: “It was a great experience but it has probably put me off owning my own restaurant a bit.

“I haven’t ruled it out totally, but it has made me realise how hard work the restaurant industry is.

“I’m not afraid of hard work, but if you’ve got your own restaurant, you don’t get anywhere if it’s no good.

“If I was 18 and had just come out of college it would a different story, but I think I’ll leave it to the experts.

“Anyway if I had my own restaurant, I wouldn’t be able to enjoy going out to eat – why spoil a good thing?”

Mr Pearce, of Colson Drive, Iwade, was joined on the Kent team by Patricia Brook, from Eltham, Izzy McKay, from Dover, and Tommy Ferguson, from Bearsted. They were mentored by celebrity chef Ed Baines.

The team beat Warwickshire in the quarter-finals of the competition on April 15, but lost out on a place in the final to Northumberland on Tuesday.

Mr Pearce, who is married to Charlotte, said doing so well in the competition gave the team a taste of success, which made missing out on the finals even harder.

He said: “We were all disappointed we didn’t get through.

“When you’ve got down to the last four out of 32, you want to go all the way, but it’s the way it went – it was down to the judges’ taste and we lost out to the better team.”

Mr Pearce and his team mate Tommy cooked in every round and were not subbed by the judges at all, which gave them another boost.