THE Oxfordshire runner-up in this year’s BBC Masterchef has spoken of how he balanced filming with his late father’s illness.

More than seven million viewers saw Tom Whitaker lose out in the cookery final on BBC One on Wednesday night to Tim Anderson.

What they didn’t know was that the 31-year-old, who grew up in Wendlebury, near Bicester, was coping with a traumatic personal story.

His father, Peter, 65, died following a battle with pancreatic cancer the day after the final was filmed in December.

Mr Whitaker said: “I was in a difficult situation.

“My father was extremely ill and he died the day after the final.

“It was a hard thing for me, I didn’t really feel like I should have been there, it was all pretty emotional and I’m not sure I was in the right frame of mind to cook.”

Mr Whitaker, who now lives in Putney, London, said: “Mum and Dad were always cooking when we were younger, we never had any processed food.

“They were quite experimental with it, and holidays were always based around food and wine.”

Mr Whitaker, set to marry fiancee Lucie in Rome in June, said: “It was a really hard time for us all, but they wouldn’t let me quit.

“I couldn’t have asked for a better family, or fiancee, and I’m very proud of them.”

This year’s series averaged more than five million viewers every week and saw the finalists travel to New York and Australia to battle it out. The final saw them make lunch in the Australian rainforest, cater for a wedding in 35C heat and cook at three New York restaurants.

Mr Whitaker, who works for an advertising agency, missed out on the crown at the last studio stage, where he cooked a saddle of suckling pig stuffed with black pudding.

Despite the difficulties, judges Gregg Wallace and John Torode praised him for his authentic British cooking.

Mr Whitaker, who studied at Oxford & Cherwell Valley College, said: “I absolutely want to cook, I have no doubt.

“For the foreseeable future, I want to get into a kitchen and will probably end up doing all the rubbish jobs.

“But I’m okay with that. And when I’ve got my confidence up, the aim is to open my own restaurant.”