GREAT BRITISH MENU RETURNS THIS FEBRUARY WITH NEW SET OF JUDGES

Returning as host, Andi Oliver is on hand to encourage and support the 32 chefs representing eight different regions or nations to deliver their best for the competition.

Award-winning and celebrated chef, Tom Kerridge, Chef and Restaurateur Nisha Katona, and award-winning comedian and host of smash hit food podcast Off Menu, Ed Gamble join host, Andi Oliver in the 17th series of Great British Menu.

Tom Kerridge says: “I’ve been involved with the show in some respect now for 12/13 years and I know how much it means, not just to the chefs that compete, but also the British food scene in general. It has been hugely influential, in terms of letting everybody know how great chefs and cooking is up and down the country, in all the nations and regions.”

Nisha Katona says: “What's fantastic about the Great British Menu is it's not just a competition about food. It is about the very best chefs in the country, creating not just extraordinary dishes, but these real flights of fantasy. I know that having watched it in the past, these people pour their hearts into what they do and it's just a complete privilege to taste that.”

Ed Gamble says: “Doing my food podcast for so long means that I am very qualified for this job and I know way more than Tom and Nisha who both kept complaining that nobody served chicken nuggets. (They might have edited that out). I can’t wait for people to see what the chefs have made this series - the brief is incredible and they really rose to the challenge. And I rose to my difficult challenge of stuffing my greedy face.”

Each week, Andi will help veterans of the competition whittle the competing chefs for each area down to just two, before they go head-to-head in front of the judging panel in the hope of securing a place in Finals Week.

Andi Oliver says: “I feel really proud to be able to support our chefs and help guide them through the competition. Being able to be there to help them cope with how challenging the competition can be, and watch them develop their dishes – and their mental and culinary agility - is a sight to behold. It’s something extraordinary to see.”

This year’s theme celebrates 100 Years of Great British Broadcasting. Some of the most talented and skilled chefs from across the UK’s nations and regions will be tasked with cooking mouth-watering dishes which celebrate UK broadcasting across the decades, both on the BBC and other channels.

In weeks one to eight, four chefs representing a nation or region will compete against each other each week to cook Canapés, Starters, Fish Dishes, Main Courses, Pre-Desserts and Desserts.

The Great British Menu begins Tuesday 1st February at 8pm on BBC Two.