Things are getting hot again for MasterChef

Judging by the BBC schedules, the public can’t get enough of MasterChef.

The cookery series currently appears in four versions: this main series, as well as Celebrity MasterChef, MasterChef: The Professionals and Junior MasterChef.

And it’s the original, which John Torode and Gregg Wallace have been fronting for 17 seasons, that is returning tonight.

Over the years, the bickering hosts have won over millions of viewers, showcasing their opposing tastes by picking out different elements in dishes.

And, according to Australian chef John, who was best man at his co-presenter’s wedding in 2016, these little disagreements between the duo have contributed to the MasterChef franchise’s longevity.

“We have our own tastes,” he admitted in an interview with the Daily Express last year.

“After 16 years, we’ve kept our own personalities and opinions.

“We have our own ideas. Not on what’s good food or not but what we have our own ideas on is the potential of each and every contestant and that’s not always the same.

“That’s the beauty of MasterChef you don’t want two judges that agree with each other.

“In the end you get the final four, and we both will agree they deserve to be there.”

Thomas Frake won last year’s show after serving up monk fish scampi, ox cheek braised in black treacle and salted caramel custard tart in the final.

And the 33-year-old cook returns as a guest judge tonight, alongside 2014 champion Ping Coombes, as the search for his successor begins.

Five chefs will be competing for the four aprons that represent a chance of a quarter-final place.

Two of those aprons will be granted after each chef has cooked their signature dishes, and the three who miss out then vie to avoid elimination in a new ‘favourite ingredient’ challenge.

On Wednesday (8pm), the week’s second batch of five contestants all take on the show’s traditional opening challenge, in which they each cook their signature dish for John and Gregg to taste and from which the pair choose two they like best.

The three cooks whose dishes didn’t cut the mustard get a second chance to proceed through the heat by creating an exceptional dish in which they showcase their favourite ingredient.

One of the three is then eliminated before the remaining four each prepare two courses to be judged by John, Gregg and the winners from 2017 and 2018 – Saliha Mahmoud Ahmed and Kenny Tutt.

On Friday (8.05pm), it’s the first quarter-final, and the four winners of the heats return to fight for a place in knockout week.

Grace Dent, one of the country’s toughest food critics, sets them the challenge of preparing their version of a great British pudding.

The contestants will need to pull out all the stops to prove that they have what it takes to progress further in the competition, while Gregg and John are on hand to find out if the proof is in the pudding.

This current series may only be running for 18 episodes, but a couple of weeks ago, it was revealed that filming has already begun on the Celebrity version, with Katie Price among those said to be taking part.

It looks like it’s going to be another busy year in the MasterChef kitchen.

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