The world's most exciting cooking competition, MasterChef, has returned for its 22nd year with six new amateur cooks competing for the title of Masterchef 2026. The competition will test 48 of the country's best amateur cooks with some of the most arduous and spectacular culinary challenges yet. The winner will be announced on BBC iPlayer and BBC One on 4 May from 8pm. The contestants are judged by Grace Dent and renowned chef Anna Haugh. The remaining contestants will compete in the quarter-final. Daniel Davies, a writer, actor, and theatre maker from Newport, South Wales, describes his style of cooking as "resourceful or elevated". He credits his passion to re-discover or re-imagine Welsh or even ancient British cuisine in modern fine-dining terms.