MasterChef: The Professionals star Liam Rogers on his rise

From helping his dad out at Tom at 101, to getting the best marks in Warrington Vale Royal College in 10 years in level three catering and hospitality, he has only kept upping his game.

And with a lot of hard work, learning and self-belief, he has made it to MasterChef: The Professionals semi-finals.

He is living the dream.

Liam said: “I’ve always wanted to push myself to do something like this but mainly shying away to it due to my pastry knowledge not being so great but throughout lockdown, I worked on my pastry stuff and that gave me the confidence to apply.

“I was putting it off and putting it off to the point where I just grew a pair and applied for it.

“It is so surreal. I’ve been watching this for 10-15 years and watching the skills test and thinking what I would do or would I be able to do it.

“It’s super surreal watching it and I’m actually on it.”

And the Stockton Heath man is not just on it to make up the numbers – he is standing out.

After making the quarter-finals following a skills test and two dishes, Liam made a surprise dish based on colour and then two further dishes.

Liam opted for black and green and based the dish around celeriac. He wanted to show what he could do but the comments he received left him a little deflated.

He added: “I was super motivated after that not getting the comments that I had wanted to get. I did feel like I held back with that but I just didn’t want to use the same ingredients that everyone else was using which to me was the safe option.

“I went a little bit different by cooking vegetables at the heart of the dish as opposed to cooking a meat dish which I know I can do.

“For me, that was about standing out and maybe it didn’t pay off as much but the next round was good enough to take me through.”

And the next round – where he was a man on a mission – involved making two signature dishes for food critics Grace Dent, Jay Rayner and Tom Parker-Bowles.

Liam will take on the semi-finals tonight

He created a starter based around mackerel and for the main course, he cooked a roast loin of lamb.

“Everyone says you feel pressure but when you go and actually do it, it’s just something else.

Grace said it was ‘so joyous’.

“His first course was fantastic and I think he’s smashed it with this one,” added Grace.

And judges Marcus Wareing and Monica Galetti felt that Liam stood out.

Marcus said: “He came into this kitchen on a mission and he hardly looked up.”

“What a chef. What a star starting to pop out, said Monica Galetti. 

Liam was overjoyed with the feedback.

The 25-year-old continued: “You don’t hear on the day what the critics say about your food as your in separate rooms so it’s my first time seeing that.

“They are pretty serious critics. I’m really happy with the outcome.

“To get comments like that from Marcus and Monica, I just want more of that.

“I can’t really describe it. I’ve been watching the show on TV for a long time and looked up to them for ages and for them to be saying stuff like that, it’s an addictive feeling.”

The semi-final of MasterChef: The Professionals airs tonight, Tuesday, December 7 at 9pm on BBC One where the chefs will create dishes based on their favourite food memories.