A MUM-OF-TWO from East Lothian swapped teaching for cooking to enchant guests at a foraging-themed dinner party on Channel 4’s Come Dine With Me.

Ashley Fulton, who lives with her husband Rich and two children – Poppy, six, and four-year-old Phoebe – in Athelstaneford, was delighted when her episode of the cooking show appeared on television screens on June 10.

Come Dine With Me pits five contestants head-to-head to become the perfect dinner party host, with each participant taking it in turns to cook and entertain their guests.

At the end of every party, the rivals grade the host on a scale of one to 10.

The host with the most points at the end of the week wins a grand prize of £1,000.

Mrs Fulton, a geography teacher at Edinburgh’s Royal High School, is originally from Ormiston and applied to be on the show during a “moment of madness”.

She told the Courier: “I applied through a form that popped up on social media. I joked to my husband he would have to finish the skirting boards if I got on but I think he thought he was safe.

“I had a phone call round, then a video chat round, then they let me know I was on just about a week before filming started.

“It was a bit of a whirlwind process and I still can’t believe I actually did it.”

The 32-year-old and her fellow contestants hosted, cooked and dined at a large home in Edinburgh for the episode, which was filmed last summer.

She was the last of the contestants to play the role of host in a bid to get her hands on the cash prize.

Her menu was: forest green pea soup with curried scallops and homemade bread; pan-fried pork/sea trout with cream and mustard sauce, with mash and vegetables; and Black Forest meringues with berries and cream.

Before serving her food, Mrs Fulton said: “To win tonight, I am going to have to be good in all categories; it is stiff competition.

“I’ll try and charm them with my food and hopefully have a literally magical end to the week.”

Her starter went down a treat with guests, but contestant Sharon complained that her pan-seared fish was “overcooked” and a “wee bit tough”.

Ashley’s guests enjoyed a “magical” game of pin the tail on the donkey before sitting down for dessert, when the guests applauded her for her “delicious meringues”.

She proceeded to tell her guests she chose an enchanted theme because “people quite close to me practise things like foraging and ancient traditions”.

She told the Courier: “I really like cooking, I try my best but I’ve never been trained or anything like that.

“I just cooked what I like to eat. I would have done a steak but I didn’t want the stress of how to cook for other people.

“For the show, they ask you to have a theme and name the dishes with it, so they sound a bit strange, but it’s just for fun.”

Following grading from other guests – a five, nine, and two eights – Ashley drew in first place with contestants Anthony and Gerald, splitting the £1,000 prize money three ways.

On her win, Ashley concluded: “It was actually really nice that three of us won.

“We kind of all shared the joy.”

To watch Ashley’s episode, visit channel4.com/programmes/come-dine-with-me/on-demand/71414-041