On the 9th of April BBC2  GBM is back, I for one will be glued to every single episode, this show is guaranteed to have the ‘wow’ factor. Whilst painting chefs for ‘A Portrait of the Great Chefs Of Britain’ I have spent a great deal of time with many of the participating chefs and with out a doubt the line up this year is outstanding. Things to look forward to include Jason Athertons shoes…Jason will be judging the London chefs and I imagine he will have the same exacting standards that have masterminded the huge success of his restaurant Pollen Street Social. I painted him while he was still at Maze, shadowing service was like being in on a military operation- funnily enough Jason started out as a cook in the army and I suspect the order and discipline have stayed with him, that and his very shiny shoes.

The really exciting addition of Philip Howard to the line up shows how this show really has a high culinary pedigree and credibility. This two Michelin starred chef has been cooking at The Square for over twenty years and was presented with A Special Award at The Craft Guild of Chefs Awards last year. The great british public will not be so familiar with Phil, but I look forward to seeing that all change over the next few weeks.

Another 2 michelin starred chef (can you believe it!) in the line up is the brilliant Daniel Clifford from Midsummer House, absent from GBM for a while and his return is surely not to be missed. I will certainly be writing more on this programme and on both the judges and chefs. For now I will leave you with one last photo of the delightful Stephen Terry who will be competing in the Welsh heat, something tells me the chefs will have a great deal of fun and hard work coming their way.