BEHIND THE SCENES WITH best

Australian chef John Torode, 51, whose partner is actress and fellow chef Lisa Faulkner, 45, and TV presenter Gregg Wallace, 52, who married his Italian girlfriend, Anne-Marie Sterpini, 31, last summer, have hosted MasterChef since its revamp back in 2005.

So, fellas, it’s the 13th series of MasterChef! Are you superstitious?

John: No. I usually try to book row 13 when I’m on planes – nobody wants to sit there, so you get loads of space. And is it an amazing series?

John: Sensational. As ever, it’s the people that walk in the door

who make it. We’ve no idea what they’re going to be like.

Gregg: Somebody at the beginning of the series made custard ravioli. Those are the type of contestants who really please John and really scare me!

Which dish/ingredients make you inwardly groan?

John: The word ‘couscous’ usually fills me with dread. It’s often an under-seasoned, soggy mess. The other is mashed potato. Please, no.

You are masters of the eyebrowraise. Do contestants ever catch you at it?

John: Oh, I do it to their faces! The thing with MasterChef is you have to be brutally honest because, if you’re not, in the following round that person’s going to get their heart broken.

What’s your dream weekend nosh?

John: A Sunday roast with Lisa [Faulkner], and a nice bottle of wine. Always home cooking, never a restaurant.

Gregg: I can’t remember the last time I had a weekend off! I’d spend the morning cooking something big and meaty, smashing it back with a couple of bottles of claret. MasterChef returns Wednesday, BBC One, 8pm