MasterChef UK

The first set of nine contestants try to appeal to John and Gregg by cooking two signature dishes.

The remaining seven of this week's home cooks return to face two challenges, one of them set by food critic Tom Parker Bowles. Only four can proceed to the quarter-final.

Nine home cooks arrive for the second week of heats, ready to prepare two signature dishes.

This week’s seven best home cooks from the first round return to compete for places in the semi-finals. They must prepare a dish for renowned food critic Grace Dent.

In the second quarter-final, four cooks each prepare two courses for the three MasterChef 2021 finalists, Alexina Anatole, Mike Tomkins and champion Tom Rhodes.

It's the third week of heats, and nine cooks must impress judges John and Gregg with their signature dishes.

The remaining contestants are set a brief by one of the country’s toughest food critics, Jimi Famurewa. He wants to see dishes with an interactive, playful or theatrical element.

The third quarter-final sees the four contenders cook for three former MasterChef champions: Simon Wood, Ping Coombes and Shelina Permalloo.

It’s the fourth week of heats, and nine talented home cooks must impress judges John and Gregg with their signature dishes. The two least impressive cooks will be eliminated.

This week's contenders face their most demanding assignment so far: cooking a dish to a brief set by one of the country’s toughest food critics, Jay Rayner.

This week’s four most talented cooks return for the fourth quarter-final, where they must cook for former MasterChef champions Thomas Frake, Dhruv Baker and Saliha Mahmood Ahmed.

It’s the fifth and final week of heats, and the last group of home cooks must impress judges John and Gregg with their signature dishes.

To win a place in the quarter-finals, the remaining contestants must cook to a brief set by one of the country’s toughest food critics, William Sitwell.

In the last of the quarter-finals, this week’s four most talented chefs cook for three former MasterChef champions: Steven Wallis, Kenny Tutt and Thomasina Miers.

To kick off semi-finals week, the ten remaining cooks are given their first taste of what it’s like to work in a restaurant setting, with judge John Torode running the pass.

The remaining semi-finalists cook a three-star lunch for a prestigious centenary event held by the Royal British Legion.

The last semi-final challenge marks ten years since judges John and Gregg were sampled on the hit single Buttery Biscuit Bass. Each cook must design a dish inspired by that song.

The five finalists create dishes inspired by public figures or artworks, films, books or songs. The second challenge then takes them to the Emerald Isle.

The four remaining cooks must offer an interpretation of a classic dish. With one then eliminated, the final three must cook at Restaurant Gordon Ramsay in London.

The finalists stretch themselves to their limits as they try to produce the three best dishes of their lives for judges John and Gregg, and be declared MasterChef champion.