Episode 1

Each week for five weeks, nine home cooks have their dreams and their skills put to the test by judges John Torode and Gregg Wallace.

The first test is an audition round, where the best three cooks automatically win themselves a coveted MasterChef apron and their place in the next stage of the competition. To give them their best chance to succeed, the judges ask them to cook their Family Favourite dish and make it MasterChef worthy. The dish must show John and Gregg who they are as a cook and how good they could become.

After tasting all nine plates, John and Gregg pick their three favourite dishes, giving those cooks immunity from cooking in the next round. The remaining six contestants then get another chance to impress the judges and win themselves one of four remaining aprons.

Faced with an invention test, they must pull out all the stops to cook a dish – sweet or savoury – good enough to get them into the next round. The pressure is intense and the stakes are high as two contenders will be eliminated from the competition.