MasterChef: The Professionals: What to expect from the 2023 series

Details of the upcoming series of MasterChef: The Professionals have been released ahead of its return this autumn.

The show will air its 16th series on BBC One and BBC iPlayer, with 32 chefs from across the UK set to battle it out over seven weeks to be named the 2023 champion.

Monica Galetti is to rejoin the judging panel after a short break which saw Anna Haugh replace her in the role. She will preside over the competition this year with chef Marcus Wareing and Greg Wallace.

“I’m delighted to be back with my MasterChef family for 2023 and I can’t wait to discover the country’s next culinary superstar,” said Galetti.

Each initial heat will see four chefs complete a skills test set by Galetti and Wareing, such as a Poire Belle Helene layered with pastry, before producing a signature main course and dessert within 90 minutes.

The two winning chefs from each heat will go on to the quarter final and face a challenge to cook a dish around a judge’s brief for food critics including Grace Dent, Jay Rayner, Jimi Famurewa and Tom Parker Bowles.

The 12 best chefs will go on to knockout week and create a dish designed to evoke a memory for a pop-up at London’s Market Halls on Oxford Street, before serving their ideal ‘last meal on earth’ for the judges.

For the semi-finals, the six remaining chefs will be split into two groups with one set joining chef Jeremy Chan at two-Michelin-starred Ikoyi in London and the other heading to Michelin-starred Upstairs by Tom Shepherd in Lichfield.

The final four will head to London’s Midland Grand Dining Room to cook for some of the top chefs in the country, including Matt Abé, Michael Caines, Jean-Philippe Blondet, Jason Atherton, Daniel Clifford and Anna Haugh.

One contestant will be eliminated, and the final three will travel to Copenhagen to cook at two-Michelin-starred Alchemist under chef Ramus Munk.

They will then be challenged to produce a three-course menu for the judges, who will then select the 2023 champion.

Previous participants in the series have included Gary Maclean, William Chilila, Adam Handling and Elly Wentworth. Nikita Pathakji was crowned the winner of the 2022 series.

Image: BBC Pictures