Simon Wood was tonight crowned the country’s best amateur cook as MasterChef Champion 2015. The 38-year-old data manager from Oldham fought off fierce competition from fellow finalists Emma Spitzer and Tony Rodd to lift the coveted trophy.

But finding out who wins is only half the fun of MasterChef, as a very animated Twitter showed all too clearly.

The build up

As with any television final involving contestants we’ve come to feel close to over the last few weeks, there was bound to be some emotional groundwork before any of the actual food stuff started.

1. Some were keen to beat Gregg Wallace and John Torode to the obscure food references before it had even begun.

2. But most people inevitably began to reflect on their own diets.

3. Then we had the most tedious part of any TV talent show final – the back stories. Suffice to say viewers were not impressed.

In fact, Twitter was literally counting down to some actual cooking.

The contestants

Simon, Tony and Emma were a lovely trio to have made the final. Much was made of the mutual support between the three, although now viewers had to really take sides.

4. There was, of course, strong support for all three contenders.

5. Then there were those viewers who were just too torn to pick a favourite.

6. Plus those who, after five days of MasterChef “finals”, apparently just didn’t care any more.

7. And finally the select few determined to turn the whole thing into a class war.

8. Some people knew where all this was heading though…

9. There was minimal speculation on whether the judges already had someone in mind for the trophy. But those that speculated had it right on the money…

10. There was much more chatter about Tony’s twirly moustache.

Some thought the tache was all a disguise – they’d definitely seen him somewhere before.

The judges

A good portion of the show was given over to loud commentary from the brash judges – celeb chef John Torode, and celeb grocer (is that a thing?) Gregg Wallace.

11. The predictable Gregg Wallace backlash (something of a national pastime these days) rolled out pretty quick.

12. John Torode’s way with words raised some eyebrows too.

13. And both judges’ ability to shout superfluous things just so they had something to shout.

14. Certain turns of phrase seemed to annoy people.

15. But was there something more to John and Gregg’s relationship?

The cooking

Who cares about how they actually cook this stuff – none of us have the equipment or know-how to pull any of it off anyway. The cheffing sequences in MasterChef are actually there to create maximum stress for the viewers – and it invariably works.

16. Although stress has its purposes.

17. The music reminded people of some other – very different – things they’d seen.

18. Then there was the improvised percussion.

19. As for the cooking itself, it’s the most anyone can do to recognise (and pronounce) the ingredients.

Not that fancy pronunciations are always welcome…

20. There was also time to marvel at some of the efforts the contestants went to in order to impress the judges.

21. There were lots of people who were just really impressed by the whole thing.

The food

Now we come to what MasterChef is all about – food you’ve never heard of being cooked in ways equally alien to your uncivilised palate. (Although we imagine at least half the weird vocab is just a posh way of saying “goujon”).

22. The octopus put a few people off.

23. As did the pigeon.

24. Is burnt veg a good thing now?

25. No one thought fish and fig was a good idea – even John Torode.

26. Although they got could empathise with Gregg’s reaction to one dessert.

27. The most controversial item however was “lime air”.

28. Some questioned the logistics of each meal being served.

29. And others knew exactly where they stood on haute cuisine.

30. But who cares about what the food is? Surely we’re all just here for the voice over woman.

The result

After a little bit of a dramatic pause (not X Factor style, but still a little too lingering) it was announced that Simon was the winner.

31. Simon’s victory was generally greeted as a “good thing”.

32. And there were the inevitable “I knew that was coming” internet Nostradamuses out there.

33. But maybe this sums up what is best about the show.