MasterChef UK 2022: when does season 18 start, series format and who are judges John Torode and Gregg Wallace?

The BBC cooking show that tests the culinary skills of a group of amateur chefs is making a return to our screens.

MasterChef has built up a following of loyal fans since the first season of the revived show aired in 2005.

Season 18 will see another 45 budding cooks tested with various head to head cooking challenges.

When does MasterChef season 18 air on TV?

The first episode of MasterChef season 18 will air on 23 March at 8pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.

Episode two and three will air on 25 March at 8pm and 9pm on BBC One.

What is the show’s format?

There are 45 home cooks from across the UK taking part in the new season of the show.

Episode one will see the first set of nine contestants cook a signature dish with the hope of showing off their skills in the kitchen.

The chefs’ signature dishes should give the judges an idea of who they are as cooks and of course they should taste pretty good too.

This season, the cooks won’t be watched as they make their signature dish, and it will be tasted in the brand new MasterChef tasting room.

Judges John and Gregg will pick their three favourite dishes and award three MasterChef aprons to the cooks, allowing them a place in the competition.

The six contestants who did not wow with their signature dish will cook another meal, this time under the watchful eye of the judges.

Four more contestants will make it through to the next round of the competition while two will be sent home early.

The remaining seven chefs will be whittled down over the next two episodes until two are left to go on to the semi-finalists.

This process will be repeated with four more sets of contestants over five weeks until all of the semi-finalists have been found.

Who are the MasterChef UK judges?

John Torode and Gregg Wallace are back to helm season 18 of the show, having become as much a part of the MasterChef furniture as the coveted aprons.

The pair replaced restaurateur and TV chef Gary Rhodes when the show was relaunched in 2005. They are also judges on Celebrity MasterChef.

Torode is an Australian-British celebrity chef who moved to the UK in the 1990s.

From 1996-2000 Torode cooked on This Morning and has presented several programmes for the Good Food Channel, including Korean Food Tour and John Torode’s Asia.

Wallace began his career selling vegetables at Covent Garden market before starting a successful greengrocers business.

He was the original presenter on Saturday Kitchen in 2002 and co-presented Eat Well for Less? in 2013.

Wallace has also been a judge on MasterChef: The Professionals since 2009 - the show pits working chefs against each other in the ultimate cookery smackdown.

Where can I watch MasterChef season 17?

All episodes of MasterChef season 12-17 are available to watch on BBC iPlayer.

All of MasterChef: The Professionals season 9-14, and Celebrity MasterChef season 11-15 are also available on BBC iPlayer.

A message from the editor:

Thank you for reading. NationalWorld is a new national news brand, produced by a team of journalists, editors, video producers and designers who live and work across the UK. Find out more about who’s who in the team, and our editorial values. We want to start a community among our readers, so please follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and keep the conversation going. You can also sign up to our newsletters and get a curated selection of our best reads to your inbox every day.