Luke French Great British Menu: Yorkshire chef behind JORO to appear on BBC cooking show

Luke French, chef director at JORO in Sheffield, is competing in the 17th serues of Great British Menu, with his heat starting on March 8.

Luke will be battling it out to represent the Northeast & Yorkshire region and the ultimate accolade of serving a dish at the final banquet.

This year, the theme of the show is celebrating 100 years of British broadcasting.

Luke, who co-owns JORO with his wife Stacey Sherwood, helped bring Sheffield its first ever Bib Gourmand restaurant after opening in December 2016 to rave reviews.

He said: "I'm really excited to be competing on this year's series. It’s an honour to be representing for the North East and Yorkshire on a show I’ve watched since I began cooking as a young chef, so I’m buzzing to now be cooking on the show myself."

The show's judges have been revamped for this season, with Matthew Fort, Oliver Peyton and Rachel Khoo being replaced by Tom Kerridge, chef and restaurateur Nisha Katona and comedian Ed Gamble.

Luke will be battling it out with Leeds-based Liz Cottam, who runs the popular Home, Mark Aisthorpe who runs The Bulls Head in Holymoorside in Derbyshire, and Leeds' Bobby Geetha who was a quarter finallist on Masterchef in 2016.

The North East and Yorkshire heat begins on March 8 at 8pm on BBC Two.