The Hour

Four contestants have already made it through to the final eight on The Hour’s Chef’s Apprentice, narrowed down from the final 16 competitors - and today we can reveal the next two who are joining them.

Chef’s Apprentice – which is run with Halls and The Balmoral Hotel in Edinburgh – is a hunt to find talented chefs across the country, with finalists getting the chance to show off their culinary skills.

The winner will also get two weeks of invaluable work experience at the plush Balmoral Hotel alongside Michelin-starred chef Jeff Bland.

And the lucky two who are joining Amy Henderson, John Traynor, Stephanie MacDonald and Derek Sonnenschein are Hazel Hourston and Hamish Allison.

Edinburgh-based Hamish knew he wanted to be a chef after spending a day with UK Masterchef winner Gerry Goldwyre.

And he’s put his knowledge from that day to good use, whipping up a tasty dish of lightly curried monkfish with a creamy grain mustard, tarragon and mussel sauce, with spinach and potatoes.

The judges felt that Hamish’s sauce could have been reduced slightly more – but they were clearly still impressed enough to put him through to the next round.

Understandably delighted to make it through to the final eight, Hamish said: “I’m absolutely ecstatic, I can’t believe I’m through!”

Hazel – who has been working in a local hotel near her village, Dounby, as a trainee cook over the last year - whipped up a tasty meal of crab hotpot served with baby potatoes sesame seeded butter coated carrots and green beans.

At first she was concerned that her meal wouldn’t be up to standard as she thought her vegetables were undercooked – but the judges loved them and the rest of her meal.

Finding out the good news, she said: Hazel: “I didn’t think I’d done that well to get through, it was a bit of a shock. I just can’t even put it into words!”

She added: It was a good adrenaline rush, I thoroughly enjoyed it.”

Make sure to keep tuning in as we'll be revealing all of the final eight over the next few days! Also make sure to check out our Chef's Apprentice section. If you want to see more about the 16 finalists that were picked, you can do so here