After completing a Skills Test and a Signature Menu challenge, Cameron, Dara, Rosie, Tommy and Charlie progressed to the quarterfinals, where they were all tasked with an Invention Test. Dara left the competition after this challenge, with the remaining four chefs going on to cook for three critics (Jay Rayner, Leyla Kazim and Tracey MacLeod). In the end Rosie, Tommy and Charlie were chosen to progress to Knock Out Week.

Having impressed in the Skills Test and Signature Menu challenges, Ieuan, James, Molly, Evelina and Lauren made it through to the quarterfinals, where they were tasked with an Invention Test. Evelina left the competition at this stage, with the remaining four chefs progressing to cook for the three critics – Jimi Famurewa, Tom Parker Bowles and Jay Rayner. Lauren, Molly and James were chosen to move on to Knock Out Week.

After finding success in the Skills Test and Signature Menu challenge, Philippe, Verity, Kyle and Kasae moved onto the quarterfinals, where they took on the Invention Test. The four chefs then went on to cook for the three critics (Tom Parker Bowles, Jimi Famurewa and Grace Dent) – Philippe, Kyle and Kasae were chosen to go through to Knock Out Week.

Having impressed in the Skills Test and Signature Menu challenge, Ayesha, Cecily, Tom and Tristan were put through to the quarterfinals for an Invention Test. The chefs then cooked for the trio of critics – Grace Dent, Leyla Kazim and Jimi Famurewa – and, ultimately, Cecily, Tom and Tristan went through to Knock Out Week, completing the final twelve.

After four weeks of heats, it was time for KnockOut Week on MasterChef: The Professionals 2023, with the twelve chefs cooking together for the first time. They were tasked with an Invention Test, with seven chefs (Cecily, Tommy, Charlie, Lauren, Kyle, Philippe and Tom) put through to the next round. The remaining five – Molly, Tristan, Kasae, Rosie and James – returned to the kitchen to cook for one of the remaining three places in the competition. Ultimately, Kasae, Molly and James were put through to the next round, sending Tristan and Rosie home.

In the second episode of KnockOut Week, the group of ten was split into two. The first five (James, Tommy, Charlie, Molly and Lauren) were sent to Market Halls to run a MasterChef pop-up and cook for twenty-five industry experts. Having won the most votes with his dish, James was given a pass straight through to the semi-finals, with the remaining four cooking again in the MasterChef kitchen. Ultimately, Molly was sent home. 

The second group of five – Kasae, Kyle, Cecily, Tom and Philppe – then took the helm at the MasterChef pop-up restaurant. Philippe's dish earned him an automatic place in the semi-finals and the remaining four chefs cooked for the judges once again. Cecily was sent home.

The MasterChef: The Professionals 2023 semi-finalists: James, Tommy, Charlie, Lauren, Kasae, Kyle, Tom and Philippe.

After five weeks of competition, the semi-finals saw the eight remaining chefs cook for a place in the final six. Tasked with creating a dish showcasing salt and pepper, four chefs – Tom, Kasae, Tommy and James – were put straight through to the next stage, with the other four forced to cook again. After a plant-based cooking challenge, Charlie and Lauren were also put through, with Philippe and Kyle sent home. 

The six chefs were then split into two trios and sent to cook for some of the UK's finest chefs. Charlie, Lauren and Tom took on a dish from the tasting menu of Jeremy Chan's Ikoyi, before heading back to the MasterChef kitchen to cook for a place in Finals Week. Lauren was sent home, putting Charlie and Tom through to Finals Week.

Next, it was the turn of Kasae, James and Tommy, who visited Tom Shepherd at his Upstairs by Tom Shepherd for a lunch service. Then they returned to the MasterChef kitchen to cook a two-course menu worthy of a final spot. James left the competition, with Kasae and Tommy joining Charlie and Tom in Finals Week.

The four finalists started Finals Week with the prestigious Chef’s Table challenge, cooking for twenty-four of the most respected chefs in the industry, including Lisa Goodwin-Allen, Matt Abé and Gareth Ward. Having impressed, they then headed back to the MasterChef kitchen to cook one dish inspired by a place they consider home. The judges sent home Charlie, leaving Kasae, Tom and Tommy as the final three.

In the penultimate episode, the final three were sent to the Rasmus Munk’s two Michelin-starred Alchemist in Copenhagen, where they attended a masterclass to understand Rasmus' culinary ethos, before joining the brigade of chefs to deliver a full restaurant service, serving diners including Marcus Wareing, Monica Galetti and Greg Wallace.

Then it was time for the Grand Final, with the three finalists challenged to cook the three-course meal they hoped would earn them the win. At the end, Tom's dishes – a lobster starter, beef main and olive oil dessert – impressed and he was crowned MasterChef: The Professionals 2023 Champion. 

Tom Hamblet, twenty-four, won the title of MasterChef: The Professionals Champion 2023. As sous chef at Camellia, a three AA Rosette restaurant within South Lodge Hotel, in Horsham, he is the seventeenth winner of the competition. He is classically trained and went into an apprenticeship at seventeen with Westminster Kingsway College in London. Since then, he has worked at Michelin-starred and AA Rosette-winning restaurants.

His winning menu started with a poached native lobster tail with blanched red and yellow cherry tomatoes, filled with lobster claw meat in a lobster and chilli oil, topped with a lemon verbena gel, courgette balls and a creamy lobster and tomato sauce Américaine. The main was seared beef fillet on a bed of pan-fried oyster mushrooms, served with braised beef cheek wrapped in brick pastry, topped with a poached oyster, a lovage emulsion, salsify, beef and red wine sauce and a beef and oyster tartare. To finish, Tom served an olive oil sponge filled with an olive oil jam, topped with a set lemon curd, crème fraiche cream, fennel tops and a fennel pollen tuille, served with a fennel seed ice cream. 

Nikita Pathakji, a junior sous chef at Kitchen W8, won last year’s series of the show, beating Sagar Massey and Charlie Jeffreys in the final. Other past winners include Stuart Deeley and Steven Edwards.

Although they tend to change slightly every year, there are a few classic challenges, which you’re likely to see make an appearance. These include the skills test, where chefs are asked to tackle a classic skill or technique in front of the judges without being given time to prepare; the invention test, where chefs are asked to create a dish out of ingredients chosen by the judges; the signature dish challenge, which involves the chefs preparing a single plate of food for the judges that represents their style of cookery; and the fabled chef’s table, which is usually reserved for the finalists, and sees the chefs cook a meal for some of the biggest culinary names in the country.