MasterChef UK 2023 episode 1: what is the audition round? Family Favourite and invention test explained

MasterChef UK is returning for its nineteenth series this April, with the very first audition round episode airing on Monday 10 April. As the amateur cooks compete for the title of MasterChef, they’re challenged to offer a new take on one of their family favourite dishes to show judges John Torrode and Gregg Wallace their potential as chefs.

Of the nine cooks who appear in the first episode of the culinary competition, only seven of them will be able to make it through to the next round of the competition – meaning this week’s starting chefs will have to work hard to impress John and Gregg or face being sent home. 

Here’s everything you need to know about the audition round in the first episode of MasterChef.

What is the Family Favourite audition round?

For their very first MasterChef challenge, the contestants are asked to recreate one of their Family Favourite dishes – ensuring, of course, that it’s MasterChef worthy in the process. The point of this first dish is to show John and Gregg who they are as a cook now, while also demonstrating their potential and just how good they could eventually become.

The three best cooks automatically win a MasterChef apron, and are granted immunity from the next round. They’re instantly guaranteed a place in the next stage of the competition: the invention test.

What is the invention test?

The remaining six contestants get another chance to impress John and Gregg in the invention round. They’re challenged to make something in just 30 minutes that will show their creativity and inventiveness as a chef, offered only the instruction to make something sweet or something savoury – giving them a lot of latitude and a lot of space in which to define the task.

At the end of this round, the four chefs who most impress John and Gregg will be awarded MasterChef aprons, and sent through to the next round. Two of the chefs, however, will be sent home.

Who is judging MasterChef episode 1?

The first episode of MasterChef Series 19 will be judged by John Torrode and Gregg Wallace. From episode 2, however, the series will start to see the inclusion of guest judges like the food critics William Sitwell and Jay Rayner.

Who won MasterChef 2022?

Eddie Scott won MasterChef 2022, impressing John and Gregg with his blend of French and Indian cooking techniques. Eddie, a marine pilot from the Midlands, will appear as a guest judge in this series of MasterChef alongside the 2022 finalists Pookie Tredell and Radha Kaushal-Bolland in Series 19’s first quarter-final Knockout Round.

When is MasterChef 2023 on TV?

MasterChef Series 19 starts on BBC One on Easter Monday (10 April) at 8pm. The series will then continue with a new episode on Tuesday 11 April at 9pm, and then a third episode on Friday 14 April at 8.30pm.

From next week, transmission will shift slightly. Episode 4 will air on Tuesday at 9pm, with episode 5 arriving on Thursday at 9pm, and episode 6 on Friday at 8.30pm. In Wales, episode 5 will be broadcast on BBC Two rather than BBC One.