As we roll into a new year, TV cookery competition fans will be eagerly anticipating the return of Great British Menu to our screens, and 2025 will see the show reach a rather special milestone. Believe it or not, this will be Great British Menu's twentieth series, meaning that the chefs taking part will be keener than ever before to secure a spot at the final banquet.

To mark the big occasion, there's a brand-new judge joining the line-up, who Great British Menu fans may recognise from previous years. As ever, you can expect some of the UK's most well respected chefs to compete, whilst a special theme has already been announced for the new series.

To find out more about Great British Menu 2025, read on below. We've tried to as answer all your questions about the twentieth series and will be regularly updating this page as more details emerge.

The official start date for Great British Menu 2025 has been confirmed as Tuesday 28th January. Three one-hour episodes will air each week for the first eight weeks, followed by five episodes in finals week. 

The BBC have announced that the Great British Menu 2025 theme will be 'Great Britons', meaning that each week the competing chefs will take inspiration from important people from throughout history, who came from their region. The guest judges in each of the regional finals, and finals week, will also be related to this theme.

Alongside Andi Oliver as host, both Tom Kerridge and Ed Gamble will also be returning to the judging chamber in 2025, but they will be joined by brand-new judge and former Great British Menu Champion of Champions, Lorna McNee. Holder of a Michelin star at her Glasgow restaurant Cail Bruich, Lorna will be taking over from Nisha Katona and knows first hand exactly what the competition means to contestants.

Speaking to the BBC about her new role, McNee said: 'Winning Great British Menu back in 2018 made a huge difference to my career as a chef and was partly behind me becoming Chef Director at Cail Bruich, so I know just how much the competition means to Britain’s chefs. Being invited to join the judges this year was a total surprise but a delight, and I’m loving the chance to help choose this year’s banquet finalists.'

The line-up of veteran judges for series twenty is yet to be announced but you can expect a mixture of familiar faces, such as Richard Corrigan and Angela Hartnett, and some debut appearances. Could we see any of last year's making a return?

Last year, the starter course was won by Ben Palmer, the fish course by Adam Smith, the main by Kate Austen (becoming the first ever woman to cook the main course at the banquet), and the dessert by Kirk Haworth. Kirk was named the Champion of Champions for his vegan dessert entitled ‘A Taste of Unity’.

The line-up of competing chefs is yet to be announced for 2025 but we will update this page as soon as we hear who's decided to throw their hat into the ring for series twenty.