It’s the fifth and final week of heats on MasterChef 2022 and a vintage clothing wholesaler is the latest contestant from Birmingham bidding to try to reach the semi-finals. Pookie from Solihull has already made the cut, but Johnny from Wolverhampton and Bhavina from Birmingham have both missed out thus far.
Martin is entering the fray after winning his wife’s heart in the kitchen when they started dating. Now married for 15 years and the parents of two children, the trader is hoping he’s got the recipe for success on TV’s hottest show.
His journey to the stove has seen Martin heading further and further south. After being born in Scotland he was moved to Wolverhampton as a baby.
(Image: BBC One / MasterChef / Shine TV)
But once Martin started working he moved to Birmingham and then Truro for a while before returning to the heart of the West Midlands. In tonight’s 13th episode of the 2022 series, Martin will kick off by cooking his own ‘signature dish’ along with eight other contestants.
Judges John Torode and Gregg Wallace will put the chefs who have cooked their three favourite meals straight into Thursday night’s second round before the remaining six chefs cook again tonight knowing that two of them will be booted straight off the show.
Read more:Solihull MasterChef star Pookie keen to show the world her ‘Pookiestyle’
In the week’s second, hour-long show on Thursday, one contestant will leave after the first challenge and then two more will go after the second test, leaving four going through to the Friday’s half-hour quarter-final. Only two of those chefs will be selected for the semi-finals which begin next week.
Family favourite
Having been chosen as just one of 45 contestants for the 2022 series, Martin is thrilled that cooking for his wife and children now aged 17 and 12 has trained him up for the size of the challenge ahead.
Martin says: “I’m half Jamaican so I love cooking food from this side of my heritage but also all over the world. I love cooking good, hearty food that the whole family can enjoy.
“Cooking is a way to people’s hearts. I remember the first meal I cooked for my wife when we started dating. It won her over and we’ve been married for 15 years now. If I can win the judges over with my food as well, that would be incredible.”
For the chefs who make it through to Thursday’s programme, the challenges will include cooking Bavette steak, plaice and oysters as well as food critic William Sitwell asking them to cook a dish using one of his favourite ready-bought items that can be either sweet or savoury.
Former MasterChef champions Thomasina Miers (2005), Steven Wallis (2007) and Kennty Tutt (2018) will be helping to judge the results of a two-course challenge.
For those who make the semi-finals, Birmingham’s Michelin-starred chef Glynn Purnell will be setting a challenge that will then send the three best contenders from the 2022 series into kitchen combat at Restaurant Gordon Ramsay’s Chef’s Table.
(Image: BBC One / MasterChef / Shine TV)
Of those through to the semi-finals so far, the one who looks like he could be the one to beat is Thomas, originally from Singapore but now based in Windsor. The 60-year-old retired interior designer has a remarkably engaging personality – as well as being able to create amazing dishes based on having also lived in the USA, Holland, Germany; Hong Kong and China, he cried when recalling his father’s influence and often says his “fingers are shaking.”
+ This week’s heat five MasterChef programmes on BBC One include tonight’s round one programme at 8pm (April 19). that will be followed by round two from 8pm on Thursday 21 and the half-hour quarter-final from 8.30pm on Friday 22.
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