“The whole experience was a joy really. What made the thing interesting is that I had no idea what I was competing against, so all I could do was go in and hope for the best. After the first round I received some really helpful feedback from the panel that I tried to apply in the final.

“And the final itself was great! It was a great opportunity to meet people from all kinds of different schools and training in different things so I think we allbrought something unique and original to the table which must have been great for the audience. Of course I was sat backstage for most of it, sweating profusely. What I did see, however, was all of a really high calibre of storytelling and it was just a pleasure to be part of.

“I genuinely did not expect to win! After they announced second place I thought ‘Oh well, I had a good time and it was great experience’ but when they called my name it took me second before it finally registered. Timothy West and Prunella Scales were a pleasure to meet and the rest of the panel were so kind in their words and generous in their feedback. And, obviously, the prize money has helped me a great deal, especially with headshots.”