Hungry for It - Season 1

The doors to the HFI hub are open! Ten rookie cooks set off on the ultimate crash course for how to make it in the food business.

Peckham in south east London is home to the Hungry for It hub, and the purpose-built professional kitchens are where the cooks meet for the first time. In the staff room, Stacey tells them about the grand prize for winning: 'The last cook standing will have a trip around the world working in some of the most incredible restaurants.'

The cooks then meet their mentors: grime artist and TV cook Big Zuu, who was first discovered on YouTube and is entirely self-taught, and Kayla Greer, a private chef from LA whose celebrity clients include Drake, P Diddy, Demi Lovato and Justin Bieber.

The mentors set their first challenge called the Level Up, where the cooks have to transform ordinary food into extraordinary dishes. To celebrate their arrival at the hub, the theme today is party food, and the cooks must each create their own fresh twist on a party food favourite.

The next day, the cooks take on their first Service Challenge – to serve up a menu of burgers to 100 hungry diners. The cooks who most impressed in the Level Up work in Kayla's upmarket restaurant kitchen, where they are safe from elimination. The others fight for survival in Big Zuu's pop-up, where they must bang out street food to a larger number of diners.

When service is over, Kayla picks her prize-winner, and Big Zuu chooses the cook who he thinks should go into the Knives Out elimination. But the pop-up cooks are shocked to discover that they have to vote to determine who takes the other spot.

In the Knives Out challenge, the bottom two cooks must make a stack of light and fluffy matcha pancakes in just 15 minutes, after which for one cook, the contest comes to an end.

It's chicken week. The cooks get the chance to compete for the prize of a lifetime – getting their spice marinade onto Nando's menus in over 450 restaurants across the UK.

In the Level Up, the cooks have to create an extraordinary side dish to go with chicken – and they have just one hour to do it. Those who impress land a spot in the restaurant kitchen, where they are safe from elimination and get to compete for the prize. The others have to fight for survival in the pop-up.

When service is over, guest judge Trent Devlin, a patrao (senior manager) from Nando's, picks his winner from the restaurant, and two of the pop-up cooks have to go head to head in the Knives Out elimination challenge.

It's waste week, and things are heating up in the hub, where the cooks are set their toughest Level Up yet. They have to level up the basic meal deal and create not one, but three epic elements to wow the judges.

For the service challenge, the cooks are tasked with creating a menu based entirely on leftovers from the hub, and the theme of the menu is bowl food. They are introduced to guest judge award-winning chef Ramael Scully, who specialises in the creative use of food waste. This week's prize is to spend a week working with Scully in his restaurant.

The week ends in another nail-biting Knives Out challenge, after which one more cook exits the contest, leaving just seven to battle it out next time.

It's veggie week. With over seven million Brits following a meat-free diet, plant-based cooking is big business in the UK.

The cooks level up vegetarian junk food and create a menu of meat alternatives for a packed-out hub, including Team GB medal winners Kai Whyte and Charlotte Henshaw.

In a tense Knives Out, the bottom two cooks must cook a frying pan pizza from scratch in just 15 minutes. At the end of the day, one more cook is sent packing, and just six cooks remain.

It's halfway through the contest and with only six cooks remaining, it's getting hot in the kitchen.

In the Level Up, the cooks must transform basic tinned food into a bougie brunch that blows the mentors' socks off.

This week's Service Challenge is pasta, but with a twist. There's only one rule – no traditional Italian dishes allowed! Guest judge Nathan Smith has had huge viral hits with some of his mash-up ideas, and the cook who most impresses in the restaurant kitchen will win a live cook-along with Nathan in front of all his followers.

For this week's nail-biting Knives Out challenge, the bottom two cooks must make churros with salted caramel sauce. And when one cook is sent home, just five cooks remain.

It's fast food week, and the temperature is turning up in the kitchen as the final five battle for a place in the semi-final.

The cooks' Level Up challenge is to transform ordinary instant noodles into extraordinary and innovative original dishes.

In the evening, the cooks take part in a yoga class to build some relaxation into their busy schedule, but the session provides more than just physical release for one of the cooks.

The menu for this week's Service Challenge is Mexican fast food. Guest judge Sarah Newman from Mexican fast food chain Tortilla announces that the prize this week is for the winning cook to get their salsa recipe on the menu nationwide in over 50 restaurants.

At the end of the day, the bottom two cooks must battle it out in the most challenging Knives Out elimination to date – Chinese pot-sticker dumplings with an aromatic dipping sauce. After a dramatic contest against the clock, one more cook is sent home, narrowly missing out on a place in the semi-final.

It's the semi-final, and it's social media week. Only four cooks remain to fight for a place in the final, and the mentors are turning up the heat with their toughest set of challenges yet.

This week's Level Up challenge is to transform everyday biscuits into decadent desserts that not only taste delicious but also look good enough to go viral.

For the Service Challenge, the hub is transformed into a street food festival, and each of the cooks is tasked with running their own street food stall, with a menu that showcases the sort of food business they would like to have in the outside world. The cooks are not only judged on taste, but also on how likely their food is to make a noise on socials.

In a dramatic Knives Out, the bottom two cooks must make one of Kayla's favourite dishes: fish tacos. But at the end of the day, one more cook must go home and narrowly miss out on a place in the final.

After eight weeks of gruelling challenges, the three remaining cooks enter the HFI hubs as finalists, but only one of them will leave as the winner.

For the final Level Up, the cooks are asked to reinvent their favourite childhood foods, and they must each deliver not one but two plates – a main and dessert that take them back to their childhood.

After the Level Up, the cooks are joined by their close friends and families for the tasting, a surprise which gets everyone emotional. But when only the top-performing finalist is given a pass through to the final service, the other two have to battle it out in the toughest Knives Out challenge so far: making notoriously tricky caramel souffles with instant banana ice cream in just 30 minutes. After a nail-biting finish, one cook is sent home, leaving just two finalists to go head-to-head in the final Service Challenge of the contest.

The final Service Challenge sees the last two cooks enter Kayla's world of private cheffing, as they are tasked with creating rival menus for celebrity client Michael Dapaah, who is joined by 20 famous friends, including top rapper AJ Tracey, DJ and radio presenter Snoochie Shy and WBO cruiserweight boxing champion Lawrence Okolie.