Contestant Gareth from Whitefield has made it down to the final five chefs competing in MasterChef: The Professionals 2026.
Episode 17 of Series 18 of the popular TV show aired on BBC One on Tuesday evening.
The episode saw six professional chefs, including Whitefield chef Gareth, face two tests in front of culinary royalty.
The 39-year-old private chef lives in the Greater Manchester town with his wife and two children.
The self-taught chef was inspired by his mother, Barbara, who was also a chef at Carlisle Golf Club when he was young.
He described his cooking style as 'modern British with influences from around the world' and says nostalgia plays a big part in the building of his dishes.
Aside from cooking, he is also passionate about singing and playing blues music in addition to fell walking.
The first challenge of the episode involved the contestants whipping up a Thai-style dish for Michelin star chef John Chantrarasak, a chef of British and Thai heritage who worked at Nahm in Bangkok when it was the number one restaurant in Asia.
An expert in Thai cooking, he received a Michelin star just three months after he opened his own restaurant, AngloThai, in the UK.
The semi-finalists were asked to cook from a selection of ingredients including chicken, pork, John Dory, seabass, crab, oysters, barley and spelt.
While making his dish, Gareth explained to the cameras he had a lot happening and described his food as "daring".
In the episode, he said he had "developed as a chef" while taking part in the TV competition.
He said: "The further I get in the competition, the more confident I'm becoming in myself.
"I really want to be in the final, I just have to get through a few difficult challenges before that."
He cooked ox heart skewers over a fire and then topped them with a black garlic glaze in addition to cooking a type of grain called farro in beef stock.
He also knocked together a Thai-style sauce with stock and added pickled daikon to his dish.
Judge Monica shared her concerns about the dish, explaining Ox heart can be tough and that Gareth would need to be careful when grilling it.
When sampling his meal, judges described it as an "accomplished plate of food" and described his ox heart as "sublime".
Monica even said it was one of his top dishes in the competition thus far.
After this, they were tasked to create a dessert for judges Matt, Marcus, and Monica that showcased skills that could match the world's leading pastry chefs.
Gareth commented that he was not happy with the Caribbean-inspired sticky toffee pudding he made, describing it as "too dense".
Feedback from the judges echoed his fears about the sponge, but still said the dish was "delicious".
Thankfully, his dishes were enough to get through to the final five chefs, and it was Sel who was sent home at the end of the episode.
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