Young MasterChef: Cooking show back on BBC with Sheffield and York university students and Danny Malin

Danny Malin, the Yorkshire YouTuber known for his channel Rate My Takeaway, will apear as a guest judge.

But among the contestants is Swindon-born student Lewis Gibson, 21, who studies Politics and Modern Languages at the University of Sheffield, who is living in Spain as part of his year abroad.

"I’ve been surrounded by food my whole life,” he says.

“Growing up with my dad being a chef and my family being full of amazing cooks, food has always been a big deal for me, even as a picky eater growing up.

"My first memory of food is probably being at the Ferry Café in Fleetwood with my grandparents. The fish and chips from there is such a staple of my early years. My childhood is full of great dishes – that fish and chips, my nan’s roast dinners, my mum’s lasagnes and chicken and rice – and, anything my dad makes. I’m super lucky to have grown up eating good food.”

His childhood around food, the fact that his dad’s a chef and “being part of the social media generation” means his cooking style is “really eclectic,” he says. Chefs such as Grant Achatz, Ferran Adria, Gordon Ramsay, Anthony Bourdain as well as his father provide inspiration for him, but social media is also “huge for me,” he says. “I could list 100 creators that have influenced me”.

He adds: "We can learn so much about other cultures and my cooking reflects that. Not just in my knowledge of other cuisines but my willingness to blend ingredients and techniques from a variety of cuisines.

"I’ll bloom my spices in oil (a technique more common in South Asian cuisine) when I’m making pasta, or I’ll use cornflour to thicken a French mother sauce, and I won’t think twice about adding garam masala to a chicken soup. I’ve got a huge respect for tradition. If it grows together it goes together. I love those recipes honed over hundreds of years to the point of perfection, all of that. But I’m not afraid to rip up the rulebook and get some properly complex flavours going.”

What will he bring to the competition?

“I’m autistic so I feel like I’ve got a very different way of looking at the world, and food, to most people. Growing up, this wasn’t always helpful but now that I’m older I’ve kind of grown into it! You could say that one of my hyperfixations is cooking! I’ll come back from a day at university and just binge-watch food content. It’s my passion. I know the science behind it and I’ve got this perfectionist streak in all things I do.

"I’m rarely 100 per cent happy with anything I put out so I think this almost-insane dedication to putting out perfect dishes will help me massively. With my dad being a chef, there’s a culinary streak in there too – I’m not afraid to take the scenic route, so to speak, for the purpose of better demonstrating my skills in the kitchen.

"And with a couple of years of food photography behind me, I know how to make a dish look good.”

Fellow contestant Rima Aishah Begum, also 21, is a student at York St John University and applied to the competition hoping it would give her a confidence boost.

"I’ve only cooked for friends and family before and felt like I wasn’t good enough to present my food anywhere else. So I thought Young MasterChef would be the best opportunity for me to learn and do my favourite thing at the same time.”

She describes her cooking style as “very diverse” and enjoys “free-styling rather than following recipes”.

Her food dream would be start selling her own food, have her own place one day or “possibly make it into the food TV world”.

Rima, who is from Oldham and also works in retail, adds: “Cooking in the MasterChef kitchen is a crazy feeling. It is very tough but at the same time feels so unreal. You’re in this electric atmosphere with all this brand new amazing equipment cooking with the best quality produce you’ve probably never used before. Overall it’s a one-of-a-kind experience!

Michelin-trained social media sensation Poppy O’Toole is on judging duty alongside chef, author and YouTube foodie Big Has.

Poppy, a self-proclaimed Potato Queen who known for her many spud recipes, says: “It’s so important in the hospitality industry to keep on bringing new people in.

"We need spaces for people to come in and show us their talent and their passion. Young MasterChef is a great platform to get that exposure and discover what they want in a future career.

“It might be that they want to do social media, or that they want to be a chef in a professional kitchen or even release food products such as sauces and spices, which is exactly what we saw happen from the previous year. I also think it’s so necessary that we do these competitions to showcase talent to other people who are already in the industry. It gets their name out there and hopefully pushes them toward a very long and successful career.”

What qualities do you look for in a winner?

"I look for someone who can develop and grow throughout the competition. I think growth is a massive one, as you need to be constantly learning and changing and adapting, whilst maintaining that passion. Obviously, I also want great tasting food too! I need to see someone who can be brave with different cuisines and food pairings.

"Confidence is also essential as it’s tough going, so I love to see contestants really believe in themselves.”

Young MasterChef is on the BBC iPlayer and episode two is on BBC Three at 8pm on Monday.