It's semi-finals time on MasterChef, and for the remaining eight, a whole new set of adventures await. Everything is on the line, so this stage is not for the faint-hearted, as those who come out on top will be rewarded with a place in Finals Week.
The week kicks off in central London at the sublime Fishmonger's Hall, which is playing host to a banquet for one of the most glittering culinary events of the year – the MasterChef 20th Anniversary Celebration Dinner. The guest list includes 70 extraordinary people who have all played a part in the MasterChef journey across the last two decades – from champions and finalists to guest critics and top chefs. The pressure is on the eight semi-finalists to pull out all the stops. Working in teams, they will deliver a three-course feast at a volume none of them have experienced before. This service must be hitch-free, so John will don his whites to take on the role of executive head chef, overseeing this amateur brigade. The team that impresses the most will head straight through to the next round, while the future of the others will hang in the balance.
They will hear their fate back at the MasterChef kitchen, where one team will be jumping for joy, and the other team faces a second challenge that tests their love of cooking. Each contender has admitted to one ingredient they dislike, but they will now need to cook a dish that puts that food front and centre. The dreaded ingredients include grapefruit, rabbit and mussels, and the judges will be tasting dishes by people who usually can't bear them. A recipe for disaster?
With only six places remaining, for two cooks the dream of becoming MasterChef champion 2024 will be over.