COOKING UP A STORM!

Judges GREGG WALLACE, 58, and MARCUS WAREING, 52, on welcoming Anna to the show and why they’re excited about this year’s contest

GREGG

‘I was impressed with Anna. She’s brought her own voice and style, and she may even soften Marcus a little bit!

‘Anna brings some unusual Irish expressions, though, such as, “You didn’t get that by licking a rock!” But she also brings passion, technical know-how and insight into a chef’s psyche.

She tells the chefs off for not owning up to their mistakes – she gets really angry!

‘We’ve had pop-up restaurants this time

[in the semi-final] and getting fine-dining chefs to do street food is amazing. They relax away from the white tablecloth and get into the world of handheld food – it’s like asking a ballet dancer to do the hokey-cokey!

‘And there were things I’ve never tasted before, like pigeon with chocolate, scallops with cherries, Swedish pineberries, Irish-moss ice cream and one dish that was turnip seven ways!’

MARCUS:

‘I missed Monica but she came back for Chef’s Table

[in the finals], which was lovely. Her shoes are big ones to fill and we wanted someone dynamic who wanted to be part of something special. And Anna takes it seriously – Irish people take everything seriously with a smile on their face!

‘There’s no competition like Masterchef: The Professionals. It’s 15 series now and it just gets better. The key is finding fantastic new talent. Every year with the Skills Test, I think, “Who’s going to walk through that door?” And every year, they blow us away. ‘But there’s no easy road – it’s a journey for all the chefs. For the quarter-finals, this time [in the Invention Test], they lift the lid of a box of ingredients and have no clue what’s under there and they have to make something based on a texture, or a flavour like ginger or orange. That’s scary!’