AN ASPIRING chef from Shotton has made it through to the semi-finals on television's toughest cooking competition.

This week, MasterChef viewers have watched the heat being turned up on Charlotte Seddon and her 15 fellow competitors during the knockout stages.

Charlotte will be back on air on Monday to cook in the semi finals.

Charlotte, 34, is a product developer who relishes cooking in her spare time – hosting dinner parties and rarely cooks same thing twice.

She said: “My friends and my husband have always said I should go on MasterChef, so I thought it would be good to be able to say I tried and I didn’t get on, however this massively back-fired and I made it on the show.

“At every stage of the process I was always amazed, but never so much as when I made the semi finals. Ever since the Quarter Finals I started to feel more and more out of my depth, but at the same time I wanted so much more to go through. It was mixture of relief, excitement and complete dread about what was to come!

“The tips and advice John offers, stay with you more than any other advice you ever receive. Gregg was great to be around as he lightened the mood and made you feel more at ease.”

On Monday night the MasterChef semi finals begin with a spectacular challenge, as the contestants head to the Royal Navy base in Portsmouth. Aboard HMS Diamond, one of the most advanced warships in the world, the Semi Finalists will have to cook a meal for the ship’s annual Trafalgar Night celebration dinner

Split in to three teams of three, they face the enormous challenge of mass catering - but at fine dining level - from the ship’s galley. Each team will have to recreate a dish from a menu designed by the chef on-board for a three-course menu to feed 120 of the ship’s company.

With just four hours to deliver, organisation and teamwork are essential for success. It’s vital the three teams perform at their absolute best and produce a dinner worthy of the occasion.

Then the nine contestants return to the MasterChef kitchen, where they are once again working as individuals. From a selection of either John or Gregg’s favourite ingredients the contestants must each create a stunning dish to hold on to their hard-fought place in the competition.

With two more contestants going home, the battle is on to stay and take another step towards being crowned MasterChef Champion 2020.