大象传媒

It鈥檚 finals week. Over the past five weeks, 40 of the country鈥檚 very best amateur cooks have been whittled down to just five. Each talented cook has a single goal: to lift the coveted MasterChef trophy.

This week, the finalists face some incredible challenges, testing their ambition, creativity, skill and perseverance as they go all out to impress and raise their cooking to a level they never dreamed possible. At the end of this week, one will walk away the MasterChef champion.

In the first challenge of the finals, the five cooks face their most daunting challenge yet: cooking a five-course lunch at the resplendent Plaisterers Hall in the City of London.

The diners are 20 lockdown food heroes - members of the hospitality sector who, during the first lockdown of the pandemic, delivered thousands of meals to frontline workers and those most in need. John Torode oversees the kitchen, as the amateurs face a high-pressured lunchtime service. The hero diners include leading chefs and restaurateurs Adam Handling, Francesco Mazzei and Ravinder Bhogal.

The contestants must each serve one dish of their own creation, inspired by their own lockdown experience. Under John's watchful eye, they are challenged like never before to deliver dishes of an exceptional standard.

Then it鈥檚 back to the MasterChef kitchen, where, for a place in the final four, all five cooks must create one plate of food inspired by someone they admire. They have one hour and 45 minutes to impress judges John Torode and Gregg Wallace. After this challenge, one cook will be leaving the competition.