Spoiler alert! Newbury chef takes on MasterChef challenge

Look away now if you haven't yet seen how Sammy Hillen got on

A NEWBURY chef has made it through the first gruelling round of MasterChef The Professionals.

Sammy Hillen appeared in the first episode of the new series of the BBC One primetime show on Tuesday.

Despite a disappointing start, when he failed to impress judges Monica Galletti and Marcus Wareing with his mushroom tortellini in the skills test, he went on to wow them with his signature dishes.

The 25-year-old – who was a finalist in Chef of the Year 2018 by BS, before going on to win in 2019 – created a duck main course and chocolate dessert that saw him chosen as one of two contestants on that night to go forward in the competition.

The show, which is hosted by Gregg Wallace, will be shown for the next six weeks on BBC 1 on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

The 32 contestants will battle it out over 18 episodes to be crowned champion of MasterChef The Professionals 2020.

You can follow Sammy’s progress in the show on Instagram @chef_sammyhillen