Nine more hopefuls enter the MasterChef kitchen tonight as the third heat gets underway.
As usual, the first challenge is to recreate their favourite family dish - and the best three will be put straight through to the next round. An invention test then awaits for the remaining six, after which two cooks will be sent home.
Scroll on to meet this week's contestants!
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Hannah
Age: 28
From: London, originally Birmingham
Occupation: Receptionist
Cooking Style: "I love to have fun with cooking, I guess my dishes are sometimes quite simple but in a playful way. I do things like invite my friends over for 'food and film' and cook the food based around the film; so burgers for Pulp Fiction, pasta for The Godfather, and apple pie for Good Will Hunting."
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Joseph
Age: 30
From: Birmingham, originally from Budapest
Occupation: Video game producer
Cooking Style: "A messy style of cooking focusing on flavours and bringing people together. A combination of traditional Hungarian, Transylvanian and world cuisine.
"My dishes are heavily inspired by Hungarian and Transylvanian tradition, I try to recreate my family's signature dishes with a modern twist on them. In my cooking I specifically take inspiration from my grandparents and my dad, who taught me everything about cooking and flavours."
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Linda
Age: 59
From: Prestatyn, North Wales, originally from Liverpool
Occupation: Medical secretary
Cooking Style: "I don't have a certain type of cooking style as I enjoy making different foods from around the world. My husband is Moroccan, and the food of his country is a massive inspiration and something I love to cook. I also love to do desserts which I'm hoping Gregg will like!"
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Michelle
Age: 36
From: Dundonald, Belfast
Occupation: Special education needs assistant
Cooking Style: "Home style cooking with an Irish twist using seasonal local produce. I really enjoy finding ingredients that I haven't used before and creating new dishes and recipes. While travelling on holidays etc I will always try their local delicacies and try and eat where the locals eat because almost every time it's the best. I enjoy the challenge of trying to recreate food from my travels and making the dishes for my family."
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Miles
Age: 35
From: South East London
Occupation: Graphic designer
Cooking Style: "Natural, organic, contemporary, modern European, grass roots, experimental, farm to table. I am inspired by natural, fresh produce and the many flavour profiles that can be shown off through artisanal and traditional cooking methods and processes like fermenting, ageing, pickling, curing and clarifying. I'm especially inspired by chefs like Ana Rož from Hiša Franko as well as restaurants like Noma, The Sea The Sea, Elliots, St Johns, The Picklery and Pidgin."
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Mirel
Age: 34
From: North West London, originally from Romania
Occupation: Hairdresser
Cooking Style: "I would describe my cooking style as 'Modern Vegan'. I've been a Vegan for over 12 years now so been exploring cooking vegan food for over a decade. My motto is 'cook smart not hard' and my food is always inspired by the produce it is centred around. I start creating dishes around one ingredient and build it up from that, keeping that ingredient the star of the dish. I love keeping an eye on high-end chefs and the vegan food they are creating, especially Alexis Gautier."
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Ngoneh
Age: 38
From: Hull, originally from Gambia
Occupation: Nurse
Cooking Style: "My style of cooking is inspired by my Gambian heritage, I love to cook Gambian food for my family and friends using authentic West African spices."
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Owen
Age: 50
From: Harrogate, originally from South Africa
Occupation: Hotel supervisor
Cooking Style: "My style of cooking is South African/ Indian which relates to my culture, infused with European influences and British references. I admire Sashi Cheliah, who won MasterChef Australia in 2018. His style is Singaporean, Indian and Fusion which really inspires my own cooking and the fusions I like to make."
© BBC
Thuy
Age: 50
From: Wexham, Berkshire, originally from Ho Chi Minh City
Occupation: Piano teacher
Cooking Style: "I cook many styles of food but have a particular focus on Vietnamese cuisine with a modern twist. The ingredients of Southeast Asia never cease to inspire me from the very wide variety of fresh herbs to tangy nuoc mam (fish sauce), to fiery chillies. I have also collected many cookbooks and get inspired by the dishes, techniques and high skillsets of professional chefs and bakers like Raymond Blanc, Marcus Wareing, Cédric Grolet and Richard Bertinet."
MasterChef continues tonight at 9pm on BBC One.
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