MasterChef: The Professionals | Series 18 Preview (BBC One)

Matt Tebbutt is to be a judge for the next series of MasterChef: The Professionals alongside Marcus Wareing and Monica Galetti on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.

The three judges will also be joined by a variety of exciting guest judges in the first stage of the competition. With their own experience and food backgrounds helping to oversee the Skills Tests, the guest judge in each Heat will add another element of surprise for the professional chefs walking through the MasterChef kitchen doors for the very first time.

The first heat sees four intrepid chefs enter the MasterChef kitchen, where their skills will be assessed across two tasks. A place in the quarter-finals is at stake, and only those with enough culinary dexterity will make it through.

Nerves will be tested from the get-go, as the infamous skills test returns. The chefs walk into an unprecedented challenge – as the test is set by former professional champions and finalists, who are now making their own waves in the food world. They, along with the judges, will give immediate feedback which will either boost the chefs’ confidence or leave them with some serious work to do.

Taking the helm for this brief is 2016 winner Gary Maclean, who has gone on to become National Chef of Scotland. His heritage is the inspiration for the task ahead. The first two chefs need to butcher and serve up a saddle of roe deer. They also have to prepare a chasseur (mushroom-based) sauce along with a tarragon and parsley gremolata. Will the chefs have the butchery and sauce-making skills required to do this dish justice and have enough time to plate up with finesse?

It’s then the turn of the remaining two chefs to take on Gary’s second recipe – a warming king oyster mushroom katsu curry, served with an apple radish slaw. Key skills here include the coating the mushrooms in breadcrumbs and balancing some delicate flavours in just 20 minutes. If the chefs manage to awaken the taste buds of the judges in that short window, they will be off to a good start.

This heat ends with all four chefs returning to cook their own signature dish. It’s a chance for the judges to find out what makes them tick, what excites them and what style of food they might expect going forward. Although moving forward is not a given – with standards reaching new heights every year.

All that’s left is for Monica, Marcus and Matt to select the chefs they consider worthy of a place in the quarter-finals. The competition to become the competition's 2026 champion is well and truly under way.

MasterChef Executive Editor, David Ambler, says: “It’s a great pleasure to welcome Matt on board for the next series of MasterChef: The Professionals. His career as a chef, restaurateur and food broadcaster makes him an ideal choice to join this year’s judging line-up and we can’t wait to discover the crop of exciting new talent.”

Kalpna Patel-Knight, Head of Entertainment at the BBC says: “With a natural warmth that viewers already love from Saturday Kitchen, coupled with a sharp eye for talent, Matt will be bringing a wealth of culinary expertise to the MasterChef kitchen and will be a fantastic addition to the line-up alongside Monica and Marcus.”

MasterChef: The Professionals returns Tuesday 10th February at 8pm on BBC One.