AN ASPIRING chef from Shotton has made it through the the final ten 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.

Tonight (Friday, April 3), Charlotte will be back on air to cook for a place 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.

Charlotte, who described her experience on Masterchef as a rollercoaster of emotions, decided to apply for the show when looking for a new challenge after renovating her dream home.

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

On the show, she has impressed the judges with her flavours and shown she’s a really accomplished cook – although she’s been lacking a little bit of confidence despite her successes on the show so far.

She told the Leader: “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.”

In episode 16 she called her progress a fluke. But hopefully a place in the final ten has put those doubts to rest.

On her own restaurant menu Charlotte would have mains of rare meats and game.

MasterChef is currently in its 16th series and, over eight weeks, judges John Torode and Gregg Wallace have been putting contestants through their paces to find the UK’s best amateur cook.

After five weeks of fierce competition in the heats, the 16 remaining amateur cooks have been battling in knockout week.

Viewers have seen them head to East London where they worked under one of the country’s most exciting young talents, chef Rafael Cagali. Originally from Brazil, Rafael mastered his trade working for some of Europe’s legendary Michelin-starred chefs. In 2019 he opened Da Terra, serving dishes inspired by his South American roots and the time he had spent in Europe and Asia. Within eight months his restaurant had earned its first Michelin star.

During a busy lunch service, the contestants were entirely responsible for serving the restaurant’s menu to paying customers.

In the second knock out week episode, contestants were in Manchester to work in the flagship restaurant of 2015 MasterChef Champion Simon Wood. They were responsible for serving up every dish on the menu to paying customers during a packed lunch service.

Now, the ten best cooks will cook their hearts out for a place in the semi-final.

In tonight's episode, starting at 8.30pm on BBC One, the contestants will be challenged to make canapes or party food. They must produce nine identical portions of a dish in miniature that can be either sweet or savoury. The stakes are high because at the end one contestants will be sent home and their dream of raising the MasterChef 2020 trophy will be over.

For the remaining nine, they will embark on the next step and become semi finalists.