A SOUS chef will put his skills to the test in the new series of BBC One’s Masterchef: The Professionals.

Bobby Ellis, who works at Memoirs restaurant in West Stockwell Street, Colchester, will appear in the eighth series of the show, which starts on Tuesday.

The programme, a spinoff of Masterchef, sees professional chefs go head to head, cooking for presenters Marcus Wareing, Gregg Wallace and Monica Galetti.

Bobby, of Brook Street, Colchester, said: “It’s going to be funny seeing myself on TV.

“It was a great experience. I can take a lot of positives out of it.

“I didn’t think I had it in me to cook for two Michelin Star chefs. Just to be able to cook for them was a dream come true.

“I work in a closed kitchen so it will be nice for my friends and family to see me doing my thing, especially my dad because he rarely sees me in a kitchen.”

Watching the show back will have mixed emotions for Bobby because his mum Viki, who encouraged him to apply and took him to the audition, died in July.

He said: “I’ve always wanted to do something like this to show my skills. My mum said: ‘Why don’t you go for Masterchef?’.

“She was my main boost through the whole thing. She’s not going to be able to see it.

“Making her proud is my main goal.”

Bobby, 25, has been working as a chef since he was 15 in cafes, pubs and restaurants, and at one point had his own catering company.

He has been working at Memoirs for a year, but is leaving in January to travel the world with his girlfriend Lauren Theobald.

The show was filmed in August. Bobby was tasked with make a blue steak with a green peppercorn sauce in just 15 minutes, before creating his own signature dish.

Three of the six contestants on the show will make it through to the next round of the competition, but Bobby would not give any clues as to how he got on.

The show is aired on BBC Two on Tuesday at 8pm.