A HAMPSHIRE chef is rubbing shoulders with the culinary elite as he stars in one of TV’s toughest cooking contests.

Millions of viewers will see Sven-Hansen Britt in the semi-finals of MasterChef: The Professionals tomorrow night.

The 26-year-old says he found his love of cooking while working for Banks Bar Bistro in Bishop’s Waltham eight years ago.

The former Swanmore Technology College and Peter Symonds College student went on to train at Bournemouth and Poole College before he was catapulted to success at world-famous hotel The Ritz in London.

Now he has reached the latter stages of the BBC Two show which pushes the contestants to the edge of their gastronomic limits.

Double Michelin-starred British chef Marcus Wareing joins formidable perfectionist chef Monica Galetti and MasterChef’s seasoned diner Gregg Wallace as the judges.

Together they search for the chef who has the skills, commitment, palate and style to push them to the top of their demanding industry.

Sven said: “I randomly applied to MasterChef as I often get an itch that I need to do more and decided it looked fun. It was pretty stressful, but has been completely worth it. Filming went by so quickly and I learnt a huge amount about myself and the kind of chef and person I want to be.

“Some of the challenges are great and terrible at the same time! You’ll have to watch and see how I get on.”

Despite his age, the chef said he enjoys competing with other critically-acclaimed cooks.

“I always go into a situation like MasterChef with the belief that everyone is on a level playing field: no matter their age, reputation or experience. It wasn’t daunting competing against others, the daunting bit was having your food completely analysed by the judges and critics, and getting truly honest feedback.”

So far he has cooked his signature dish of turbot poached in seaweed butter with cauliflower puree and faced Marcus’s invention test based around the infamous custard tart that he cooked for the Queen’s 80th birthday.

Sven is set to appear tomorrow at 8pm at the start of the semi-finals, which is followed by a cook-off with the 12 best chefs battling for 10 places at the next stage.