'I ate a Scorpion pizza in a Portsmouth chilli challenge - and I could barely speak when I finished'

I’m a huge foodie and have always wanted to take on a food challenge - but certainly wasn’t prepared for what lay ahead of me.

I went in with a clear strategy; with just 10 minutes on the clock I needed to rely on pure speed, not giving the intense heat a chance to settle.

From the very first bite, the heat was like a punch to the throat - I immediately had hiccups.

Soon after, tears were streaming from my eyes, my nose was running and my mouth was numbing from the pain.

I wanted to wipe my eyes, but the spice on my hands would have put me in a world of pain.

After just over three minutes, I had carved my way through half of the pizza, but the pain was simply relentless, an unforgiving onslaught of heat.

I’ve never experienced anything like it - my hands were shaking, but the cheers from the crowd and from my very concerned girlfriend spurred me on.

Despite the pain from the heat, the pizza actually tasted quite nice, and the flavour still came through.

After I had triumphed, with mere seconds to spare, I took a moment outside to contemplate what had just happened.

My head felt like it was splitting in two, I was light-headed and could barely speak - but knowing that I had taken down such a colossal challenge felt incredible.

My thanks go to the Guildhall Village for inviting me to take on this challenge, and to Tabasco for supplying me with one of the most painful experiences of my life.