After four weeks of hard competition, it's Knockout Week on MasterChef: The Professionals as the 12 most talented chefs left standing come together for the very first time. They will need to up their game and deliver food of an exceptional standard to keep their dream alive.

The week kicks off with a classic Invention Test as the contenders are given free rein to design one outstanding dish from a bountiful larder of ingredients including pigeons, ox cheek, squid, prawns and a whole host of fruit and veg. They will need to push boundaries and take a few risks if they want to stand out from the crowd, as only the seven best chefs will make it through to the next round.

For the remaining five it's do or die as they return to the kitchen to cook for one of the remaining three places in the competition. Using every ounce of energy and imagination, they will raid the larder for a second time in another high-stakes Invention Test. This time, however, they must use the ingredients at hand to produce an extraordinary dessert. Will they have any more inspired ideas, or has their creative well run dry?

At the end of a dramatic day, only the eight most talented chefs will go on to cook another day, as they continue to pursue the MasterChef: The Professionals 2023 crown.

Knockout Week has seen the final 10 contenders split into two groups. The first group has already competed for their place in the semi-finals, and one came to the end of the road.

It's now the turn of the last group of five to get their taste of the real world as they take the helm of the MasterChef: The Professionals pop-up in the heart of central London.

The UK's pop-up scene has gone from strength to strength in recent years, giving up-and-coming chefs an accessible platform from which to show off their culinary prowess. Pop-ups can springboard new brands into the mainstream and enable chefs to become industry titans.

To make their mark, tonight's five contenders will have to cope with confined kitchens as they set out to deliver an exceptional plate to 25 of the UK's best pop-up chefs and food entrepreneurs. These guests have seen it all before, so it will take a stroke of genius to make them sit up and take notice. The chef that manages to impress the most will find their efforts rewarded with a place in the semi-finals.

For the other four chefs, it's now or never as just one dish stands between them and the next level. Their brief back in the MasterChef kitchen is to cook their Last Dish On Earth - the one dish they would choose to cook if they were never to cook again.

The hopefuls' fate lies in the hands of Marcus, Monica and Gregg, who will have the unenviable task of sending one chef back through the kitchen doors. The other three will head to the semi-finals, where a unique adventure takes them closer to becoming MasterChef: The Professionals champion 2023.