The Central heats cover a large part of England; not only the Midlands, but anywhere above London right up to Yorkshire and Lancashire. This means there's a wealth of talent to choose from, although only one of the chefs still actually works in the area (the other two were born and raised 'Centrally', but now work elsewhere). Take a look at who's appearing this year to hopefully get a course through to the banquet.

Sabrina started her cooking career by accident when she took a part-time job at a café while at University. When the head chef injured himself, she stepped in to finish the service. She then trained at the Dorchester, before moving through gastropubs in south west London with a company called The Draft House. After that, she worked at The Sanctuary Spa and completed a brief spell in corporate catering, where she entered the famous Roux Scholarship. She reached the finals of this prestigious competition twice, and is now working as an executive chef at The AllBright.

Warwickshire-born Ryan’s experience includes apprenticeships in France with the Troisgros Family, Guy Savoy and Pierre Gagnaire, before he returned to the UK to work his way up the ranks. His first head chef role was at The Goose, where he won a Michelin star within just eighteen months. It was here that he met his partner Liam – who is appearing in the North West heats later on in the series – and the pair hit it off immediately. The two chefs are now married, and will not only be the first married couple to appear on the show, but also the first chefs to enter from the same restaurant, Orwells, in Oxfordshire.

Marianne is a butcher’s daughter from Leicestershire. After dropping out of an architecture degree, she began training in restaurants, including the Michelin-starred Gravetye Manor. She then worked as a private chef in the UK, Europe, America and Australia, where she acquired a diverse knowledge of local, seasonal food. Marianne reached the 2009 finals of MasterChef: The Professionals, and also published her first book Kitchen Knife Skills. In September 2013, Marianne decided to open a fourteen-cover restaurant in Notting Hill with a team of three, arguably one of London’s smallest fine dining restaurants. She left the restaurant in July 2018 to begin the next chapter of her career, travelling the world to work at various restaurants.