A WOMAN looking for a new challenge after converting a derelict farmhouse into her dream home found herself under pressure on television’s biggest cooking show.

MasterChef has returned to BBC One for its 16th series and, over eight weeks, judges John Torode and Gregg Wallace are primed to discover the UK’s best amateur cook.

Contestant Charlotte Seddon, 34, described her experience on Masterchef as a rollercoaster of emotions - and despite being surrounded by the finest ingredients she actually lost two stone while filming the challenging series.

Charlotte, of Shotton, said: “I think I was a little in the dark as I was one of the few contestants that hadn’t seen the programme and I didn’t really know what to expect.

“We went in to the kitchen and John and Gregg introduced themselves and then they said ‘cook’. We looked at each other and said “do we cook now?” We looked at Jon and Gregg and they said ‘yes, cook!’

“I just thought ‘Aaaargh!’ I just started to chop my onion which wasn’t what I was supposed to do with the onion!”

Viewers saw Charlotte in the second and third episodes.

In the heats round, Charlotte was one of the two chefs that earned the right to wear a MasterChef apron.

Their first test was the Signature Dish round – in which the six contestants bring from home the ingredients they need to put their best culinary foot forward.

Charlotte had an hour and 15 mins minutes to deliver an impressive plate of food.

Once Charlotte had calmed down from her initial panic in the kitchen, she prepared her dish of duck breast with red onion and apricot. It impressed the judges, particularly Gregg, but at the start they were not convinced by Charlotte’s choices.

“I was surprised when they asked if I was sure the ingredients went together. You are a bit stuck because you only have the ingredients that you brought with you, but I knew that it tasted good.”

And, as the saying goes, practice makes perfect.

Charlotte added “We had prepared out dishes at home. My poor husband must have eaten 15 duck breasts in the week before filming.”

Viewers will see Charlotte return with the other 15 strongest cooks in Knock Out week.

Split into two groups of eight, over two episodes, the cooks are tasked with creating a dish that they would put on their own restaurant menu or feature in their own cookbook, to keep their place. It’s a high stakes cook off - three go home and the remaining five survivors of each round go on to experience working in a professional kitchen for the first time. They will be cooking in a restaurant service delivering dishes to paying diners.

But if not for an epiphany in the middle of the night, Charlotte may not have been on the show this year.

Originally from Hawarden, Charlotte has been living in Shotton for the past five years where she and her husband Rhys have been working to create their dream home from an old farmhouse that had fallen into disrepair.

If was in the early hours of the morning when she decided appearing on Masterchef would be her next challenge.

“I was filling the form in at 2am in the morning,” the product development manager said.

“After that I thought nothing of it until six months later when I got the call.”

Surprisingly for a fine cooking show, Charlotte ended up losing weight due to the highs and lows of the show.

She added: “It was a really great experience and one I wouldn’t change for the world, but it was a real rollercoaster of emotions. I actually lost two stone in weight. You get to the point where you are cooking so much you don’t want to eat your own food.”

Another MasterChef Heat and Quarter Final are on this evening at 7.30pm and 9.30pm on BBC One