MasterChef: The Professionals 2020 is finally here, with chefs set to showcase their skills on the 13th series. Meet the contestants!
More than 30 skilled chefs will go head-to-head in a battle for the trophy, in a bid to impress this year’s judges Marcus Wareing, Monica Galetti and Gregg Wallace.
Two contestants will be eliminated at each heat section of the competition, with 16 left in the final week of MasterChef: The Professionals.
So who is taking part in this year’s series? Meet the contestants!
Santosh
Santosh Shah calls himself a Nepalese chef on Instagram. He is the head chef at Indian restaurant Cinnamon Collection.
The 34-year-old is also the executive chef of Saffron Circle UK. He was originally born and raised in a village in Nepal called Karjanha, Siraha.
As the youngest of 7 siblings – who was inspired by his chef brother – Santosh moved from Nepal to India at 15 years old, to work as a commis in a five-star restaurant for 10 years.
He then relocated from Gujarat to London 10 years ago – one of his first jobs was at Brasserie Blanc.
Santosh has been a chef for 20 years, and got through to the final three!
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Jamaar
Jamaar Semper, 21, competed in the Craft Guild of Chefs National Chef of the Year competition in 2020, making it to the final.
Jamaar regularly spends time in Bristol, and works as a junior sous chef at Michelin-star Lucknam Park Hotel & Spa in Wiltshire.
He also won the Southwest Young Professional Chef of the Year in 2019.
The contestant said his strengths are fish prep and butlery, and made it through to the semi finals!
Philli
Philli practised for Masterchef: The Professionals by buying a one-way plane ticket to Japan, where she spent a year travelling from Japan to Indonesia.
While she was there, she worked in restaurants, visited Kobe beef farms, and ate mochi, among other activities.
It all started at the age of 22, when she joined Gordon Ramsay Restaurants and became passionate about Asian food.
Philli, who is now 28, works in consultancy with Nutshell Food and runs masterclasses for skilled chefs at her business Chef Tribe.
She enjoys cooking ‘pretty dirty food’, a hashtag she uses in her business. Philli made it to the final four!
Victor
Victor Okunowo is head chef at pan-African-style restaurant Talking Drum London and offers private dining bookings.
The 25-year-old spends most of his time in London, and occasionally does Victor’s Tapas Tasting videos on his Instagram.
The Masterchef contestant also took part in a cooking competition at Hotel Olympia, London, when he was in college – and took home a bronze medal.
He made it to the final eight!
Ross
Ross Burgess, 30, who lives in Edinburgh, calls himself a travel addict. He has visited 49 countries so far, and is still “counting”.
Looking at his Instagram, Ross posted a ring emoji caption under a picture with Amy Bigmore on March 12, 2020. So it looks like he is engaged!
He is a sous chef at Murrayside Care Home in Edinburgh. Ross said they “make everything from scratch”, adding that the place is “fantastic”.
Ross has also provided fine dining for 10 and a half years. He made it to the quarter-finals!
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Rich
Rich appeared on MasterChef: The Professionals 2020 in Heat 2.
He is the head chef of a riverside restaurant in Bradford on Avon and comes from a Michelin star background.
Rich, 36, started his career in London before he moved down to Exeter, to Bath – where he worked in two hotels – then opened up his own restaurant.
Luke
Luke Rhodes, 26, had his first child earlier this year, and had a home renovation, so it’s been a pretty busy time for the MasterChef contestant.
He has a baby girl Dolly Freo with his wife and qualified pastry chef Jessica, who he lives with in Sheffield.
Luke is a sous chef at Halifax Hall hotel in Sheffield, and has his own meat business called Luke Rhodes Smokehouse BBQ.
He said that he has “always wanted to be a chef from day one”. And much to his delight, Luke got through to the final eight!
Burhan
Burhan Ahmed is a 23-year-old award-winning chef, according to his bio. He cooks, but also bakes desserts, such as chocolate and caramel sponge.
The chef de partie, from Staffordshire, has a passion for produce inspired by his father. His family are also in the catering industry.
When he was nine years old, Burhan went to Billingsgate Fish Market with his dad and spent his savings on buying a lobster for £20!
His Instagram states that he is a 2x national gold medallist, and has a passion for food and cars. Burhan owns a very flashy BMW! He is also a father to Amelia.
Burhan got through to the quarter finals!
Joe
Joe, 24, works as head chef in a modern British restaurant in London.
The contestant was recently promoted to the role before going on the show!
He said that since a young age, his mum has called him a “dog with a bone”.
Joe continued:
I wouldn’t work 17 hours a day and 5 days a week if I wasn’t driven. I go home and I think about new dishes.
Bart
Bart van der Lee, 33, is a private chef from the Netherlands who has his own shop and recipe site.
He started his cooking career at the age of 16, with his first job as a chef at Toine Hermsen, a Michelin star restaurant in Maastricht, Netherlands.
The contestant is married to wife Ana, who he met in Turks and Caicos.
He has travelled the world as a private chef, including working on superyachts and cooking at ski resorts.
Bart works for a family in Chelsea, London. He made it to the final three!
Jono
Jono Hawthorne, 31, is the head chef at Vice and Virtue, a modern British restaurant and cocktail bar in Leeds.
The contestant, who is a father to son Ted, has worked in the kitchens of NOMA, The Man Behind The Curtain and The Box Tree.
More recently, he seems to stay occupied by preparing takeaway food for Leeds residents, while restaurants are closed.
The restaurant focuses on local produce and foraged, fresh ingredients. It looks like Jono’s experience as a chef paid off, as he made it to the final six!
Alex
Alexander Henry Webb, 25, is head chef at Square 1 restaurant, in Dunmow, Essex. The contestant says he has been a chef since he was 14 years old.
He started out working as a pot wash at the same restaurant that he currently works at, before going off to learn from different restaurants, and returning to showcase his skills.
He has already announced that he will be working on Christmas Day, making festive dinners for customers!
Alexander, who calls himself Chef Webb, also has a cockapoo called Truffle.
He made history as the MasterChef: The Professionals 2020 winner!
Sammy
Sammy Hillen, from Newbury in Berkshire, is a 25-year-old sous chef.
He was a finalist in Chef of the Year 2018 by BS, before going onto win the competition in 2019.
Sammy, 24, who is a father of two, works in contract catering at a crash test training facility.
Although his time in the skills test worried judges, he won them over when presenting his own dishes in the 2nd test. He made it to the quarter finals.
Dave
Dave Wells, from Oxfordshire, is head chef at gastro pub The Fat Frog restaurant in The Chequers, based in Didcot, which he formerly owned.
Looking at his Instagram, the 39-year-old is also a father, and sometimes goes on bike rides with his son.
He has been a chef for 24 years, with his passion for food starting when he was 16 years old.
Dave made his mark on the judges in his first round, and got through! He then impressed judges further and made it to the final six.
Jahdre
Jahdre Hayward, 40, from Epping, is head chef at award-winning Haywards restaurant in Essex, which he owns and runs alongside his wife Amanda.
He has worked there for 7 years and is responsible for the main kitchen, while Amanda runs front of house.
He previously lived in Australia with Amanda, where he became a sous chef at The National Gallery.
Jahdre then moved to the Melbourne Wine Room as a head chef, and later the Millswyn, before opening his current fine dining restaurant.
Jahdre has also worked at Hanbury Manor, Rules restaurant, Oxo Tower, Novelli in the City and The Ritz.
Aaron
Aaron, 27, runs his own pop-ups, and works at a sous chef at a two-Rosette Indian restaurant in Buckinghamshire.
The contestant, from Amersham, said they were closed for 2 months when lockdown measures took place, but have since opened for takeaway.
He added that MasterChef: The Professionals is the biggest thing he has done in his career to date.
Aaron was put through to the semi finals!
Scott
Head pastry chef Scott joins the line-up of contestants in this year’s MasterChef: The Professionals on BBC One.
Scott, 31, works at a bistro in Central Manchester. He is one of three siblings, and says they all “cooked away as a family”.
He says his job as a chef has taken him all over the world, and that it has taught him things he would never really learn in a regular environment.
Guillaume
Guillaume Dunos, 26, is a chef patron at French cuisine restaurant La Ferme at Primrose Hill, London.
The chef, who also works at Zebulon Palais Royal Officiel, is from Paris.
He learned how to cook from spending time in the kitchen with his mother and grandmother from the age of seven.
Guillaume then trained in the Michelin-starred kitchens of Paris. He now describes his cuisine as “minimalist but generous”.
He made it through to the quarter finals!
Hira
Hira Diamond Thakur, 33, is a senior sous chef at Dine At Six in Nottingham, which is based at Trent Bridge Cricket Ground.
His role oversees all the sections, which involves making sure everything goes out in the restaurant with the highest quality.
The father-of-two is married to wife Louise, and is passionate about boxing, health, fitness and cooking.
He likes to learn classic French cookery, and focuses on putting that flavour into his own version of Asian fusion.
Andrew
Andrew, 27, is a junior sous chef from Cheltenham.
He said he became a chef because he loves food, and has always loved cooking with food.
Andrew said:
It’s always very rewarding, especially when you get good feedback from customers, and your peers as well.
Jabari
Jabari is a 31-year-old self-taught sous chef who works at The Jugged Hare in London, and also offers private dining on request.
His Instagram bio states “Hip Hop 4 life”, showing his passion for music as well as cooking.
He regularly shares his cooked dishes on social media, and spends his spare time making visits to several restaurants.
Otis
Otis, 26, is head chef at Cellar Club in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire.
The sous chef also runs street food trader Grandad’s Kitchen alongside Ant Langston, and has worked in pub kitchens for most of his career.
The MasterChef contestant also offers private dining!
Harrison
Harrison, 22, joined the other contestants to compete in this year’s series of MasterChef: The Professionals.
He is the head chef and co-owner of a restaurant in Devon, which he recently opened with two friends shortly after finishing college.
Harrison said:
Cooking’s the easy bit. Running the actual business is the hard bit. Cooking’s the fun bit. That’s the bit we all enjoy.
Michaela
Michaela, 38, works as a private chef in Harrogate.
She also gives cooking lessons to some of her clients. Michaela appeared on the second heat of this year’s series.
The contestant said her father’s family worked in a butchers, while her mother’s side had fish and chip shops, hotels, and bed and breakfasts.
During the pandemic, Michaela set up a meal delivery service to support people who were self-isolating or shielding.
Carla
Carla, who lives on the Isle of Mull in Scotland, is the owner and chef of Ninth Wave Restaurant. She is also a food writer.
The 56-year-old previously worked at Argyll Hotel as their head chef, and has been a chef for 36 years.
Originally from Regina, in Canada, the sibling-of-four now spends her spare time trying on wigs, and regularly cooks dishes which she posts on Insta.
She has had no training but has worked in restaurants for her entire life. It looks like it paid off, as she made it to the quarter finals!
Reece
Joining the line-up is Reece Elliott from Sheffield, who came second place in the Junior Masterchef of Great Britain competition.
Reece is a 22-year-old junior sous chef at The Cavendish Hotel in Baslow, Derbyshire.
The chef says he will have a “long day at work” and come home to continue practising and cooking.
He has a son called Hudson with his fiance Laura Wilson.
Ash
Ash, 24, joins the MasterChef: The Professionals contestants this year.
She has been a sous chef in the Royal Navy for 6 and a half years.
Ash, who is from Plymouth, said that she has always enjoyed cooking, especially when she’s with her grandparents.
Dalila
Dalila, from Sardinia, says she is “madly in love with food” in her Insta bio.
According to her Facebook, the 37-year-old has worked at The Cross Keys pub in Great Missenden, which she left in 2018.
The chef previously studied at Abingdon & Witney College.
She now works as a head chef at a Beaconsfield-based pub.
Harry
Harry, 24, is a senior sous chef who works at a three-rosette restaurant in a country house hotel in Wales.
The contestant started cooking when young, as part of a Saturday job to make money, before he started to fall in love with it.
Paul
Paul Hood, from Edinburgh, has cooked for the Royal Family before!
The 33-year-old, originally from Presterfield, has been cooking for almost 20 years after watching his chef father work his magic in the kitchen.
He is now executive development chef for Edinburgh-based events company Heritage Portfolio.
Paul has made menus for Royal events, including Ascot and the Queen’s Garden Party.
He made it through to the quarter finals of the Professionals!
Kuljit
Kuljit, 42, made his cooking debut in the first heat of this year’s series.
He is the executive head chef at a four-star hotel in central London.
The contestant started out as a trainee and had to reach 11 promotions to get his current position, each of them taking a few years of “hard work”.
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