- Season 1
The pink neon lights of the kitchen are sparked, Poppy and Kerth have their forks at the ready, and the competition's best three cooks are ready to battle it out. It's the Young MasterChef final.
The final challenge of this year's competition is a true celebration of everything these three remarkable finalists have learned so far. They must impress judges Poppy and Kerth with two delicious courses - an appetite-whetting starter followed by a showstopper dish that incorporates all their creativity and learning from the competition. It's their final chance to prove that they are worthy of placing their hands on the trophy.
Only one of them will be crowned the first ever Young MasterChef champion.
Only one challenge separates the final four cooks from a place in this year's Young MasterChef final. Head chef Kerth wants a restaurant-style service all in the name of street food. This is the biggest challenge to date and to make the final, the four rookie chefs have to cook for 20 expectant diners - at the Young MasterChef Street Food Pop-Up.
With 20 diners, representing all corners of the street food and online food influencer scene, arriving at the Young MasterChef pop-up tent, the amateur youngsters must use everything they have learned. The task is to produce a delicious plate of street food for the hoard of hungry guests.
It all boils down to this. One plate of food for a spot in the final and a chance to get their hands on the Young MasterChef trophy. Unfortunately, one of them will be going home.
The Young MasterChef final five are back to show judges Poppy and Kerth their sweet side in the form of an ice cream parlour challenge. Not just any old ice cream but a complex dessert that will have customers queueing round the block.
Joined by award-winning ice cream sandwich wizard Terri Mercieca, the cooks must show the three judges that they can dabble in pastry and come up with a dessert worthy of gracing the menu of the best ice cream joint in town.
Only six Young MasterChef cooks remain. Judges Poppy and Kerth have guided them this far, and they must now grab the trolley by the handles....literally.
In a series first, the contestants must work in pairs to dash around the local supermarket to cook a meal with a budget of £30. Dishes must be created individually, but pairs must work together to spend cash wisely and design a menu to impress judges.
The judges aren't alone for this one. They are joined by YouTube star, chef and author Big Has, who knows a thing or two about delicious grub, and tonight he wants a feast.
With a chance for a spot in the final five of the first ever Young MasterChef series, they must push harder than ever before to progress. For just one of the cooks whose dish doesn't quite deliver, their competition comes to a close.
With the competition ramping up, it's time for the final seven rookie cooks to face their biggest task yet and enter the world of the professional.
Their task is to replicate a fine dining recipe given to them by renowned London chef and two-time Great British Menu champion James Cochran. No pressure - they must cook one dish each from his restaurant menu.
So far in the competition, pizzas and burgers with flair have passed the test, but this time, they must leave all of that behind and begin to think like a true chef.
With Poppy, Kerth and James tasting their dishes, their only hope is to produce a restaurant-standard dish.
The stakes are getting higher, the trophy is getting closer and at the end of this round, six cooks gallop onward, and one heads home.
Young MasterChef reaches its halfway point. The rookie cooks are down to the last eight, and the twists continue.
In the age of melt-in-your-mouth online videos, mouth-watering melting cheese, pouring sauces, oozing chocolate and dripping burgers, hashtag Food Porn is rife. Judges Poppy O'Toole and Kerth Gumbs set the cooks the challenge of not only producing a mouth-watering plate of food, but to film a video that will stand out on any social media that has the concept of hashtag Food Porn at its core.
If ever there was a time to make the nation reach through the television, it's now. For one of them who fails to do so, it's regrettably, curtains.
Flick open your food apps because it's pizza night in the Young MasterChef kitchen. The final nine best cooks come together to do battle with dough.
Working in teams of three, they must band together to keep their top-of-the-range pizza ovens lit and fired up. Each cook will be responsible for making a unique pizza with flavours of their own design.
With pizza paddles poised and a huge variety of toppings and bases at the ready, the cooks must leave their margaritas at the door and show judges Poppy O'Toole and Kerth Gumbs that they're far from basic.
The competition isn't easing up, and at the end of this round, one of them goes home.
It's the last of the Young MasterChef heats, and the final five rookie cooks arrive at the Young MasterChef kitchen to make themselves known to judges Poppy O'Toole and Kerth Gumbs. They feature a waiter from Gloucester, a law student from Nottingham, a mum from Burnley, an acting student from Leintwardine and an engineering student from Portsmouth bringing flavours of Mozambique.
The amateur cooks from all over the UK must put their personality on a plate and show that they have the culinary chops to take the competition head on. What has Gen Z got to say for themselves behind the stove? Has all of the social media scrolling and family compliments resulted in a chef-to-be? The judges are about to find out.
With only three spots in the competition up for grabs, the cooks must leave nothing behind. For two of them, it's the end of the road.
It's the second heat, and five brand new young cooks roll their sleeves up to face culinary superstars Poppy O'Toole and Kerth Gumbs. Facing the kitchen is a midwife from Swansea, a mechanical engineering student from Dunstable, a retirement village carer from West Bridgford, a food and hospitality student from Streatham and a lash artist from Tower Hamlets.
The judges want to see the cooks' personality on a plate, one plate that tells them exactly who they are as a person and a cook. Does all of the social media hype and youthful energy in the kitchen truly spell a delicious plate of food? The battleground is once again set for the young cooks from all walks of life to put their heart on a plate and prove that they have what it takes to edge closer towards the Young MasterChef trophy.
For three cooks, it's delight, as they will progress to the next round. Unfortunately, for two of them, it's the end of the road.
The first five budding young cooks arrive for their first taste of the Young MasterChef kitchen. They are a vegan entrepreneur from Knebworth, a DJ from Coventry, a paediatric nurse from Birmingham, a single mum from Dundee and a psychology student from Hackney.
Under the watchful eye of judges Poppy O'Toole and Kerth Gumbs, the contestants must cook a dish that represents their personality on a plate. Their dishes must show their mentors exactly who they are as cooks and prove they are ready to face the gruelling competition ahead.
Only three cooks can make it through to the knockout stages of the competition. For two of them, their Young MasterChef journey is over.
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