I have a surprisingly large appetite anyway and I don't drive, I walk everywhere, I don't sit down at the moment and I pace the hallway when I'm on the phone. I think that if I didn't eat large amounts of carbs and cheese I would wither away into a husk.

My parents tended to cook big batch food because there was always the possibility that other children would turn up with their carrier bag and shoes and we had to gently bring them out of their shells.

I remember going on adventures with my older brother and, when I was 11, being allowed to go to the corner shop alone, and filling up a bag with penny chews, Fruit Salads, Bruiser bars and Black Jacks.

And I'm autistic, which means I can be hyperfocused but also all over the place at the same time. I think I'm very lucky to have found cooking because it's the one area where a brain like mine really thrives.

I never learned to cook, so I've got no rules. I'll put things together just because I think they belong together.

As a kid we would eat moussaka with mash. We had a real fusion of two cultures that no-one has dared to fuse since.

Party politics are quite upsetting. I've been a member of the Labour party, the Green party, the Women's Equality Party, the National Health Action Party and now I'm not a member of any.

I've had success, but I'm still haunted by the fear of being hungry. Once you've lived it it never leaves you.

When I was born my parents lived in a flat so small that it now legally can't be rented out as a dwelling.

I think as much as people moan at things like award ceremonies, it gives people role models. It provides real positive reinforcement that you can be who you are and still massively achieve.

My bark is far, far worse than my bite.

For some people, pronouns are a very important part of how they identify. I completely understand that. For me, I have more of a looser interpretation.

You don't see very many Irish-Cypriot pop-up restaurants kicking about!

I put my son's nutritional needs first, and existed on pasta and thin air more times than I would dare to admit.

I'm very careful with the money I have, I pay myself the living wage, and I try to save the rest, because if life has taught me one thing it's that you never know what is around the corner.

When I was at my lowest point I had a lot of help from charities, food banks, to see me through so it is nice to start to give something back.

During my time at Essex county fire and rescue service, barely a shift went by without receiving a call from an elderly person who had fallen in their home, or from their concerned neighbour or carer.

I left home at 18, I thought I knew everything. It was fun for a while and then it wasn't fun any more.

Many families teeter on the edges, not qualifying for the little support on offer, unwilling to seek it for fear of drawing attention to a household barely holding the pieces together, or hit by unexpected bills.

Don't say things about people that aren't true... because there are consequences for that.

At 11, following comprehensive psychiatric and cognitive assessments, an educational psychiatrist appointed by my high school recommended that I attend a school for 'gifted and talented' children.

The last time I celebrated a special occasion, I hashed together a paella with some chicken, some frozen veg, long-grain rice, chilli and a shake of turmeric for colour - and it didn't disappoint.

Sweetcorn, mushy peas, beans, lentils, are all basic staples that can be thrown together into a variety of surprising meals.

Learning to cook at school gave me the confidence to experiment in the kitchen when I left home in my late teens - I wasn't intimidated by it.