Meet Leicester's BBC One MasterChef: The Professionals star stepping into the kitchen

A Leicester-born chef who turns invasive weeds into fine dining dishes is taking on the heat of the BBC's MasterChef kitchen this week. Pippa Lovell is aiming to draw on her experience from Michelin-starred restaurants to impress the judges.

Pippa, who was born and grew up in Leicester, developed her sustainable restaurant concept Versa on the Isle of Man before moving to Sheffield this year. The 31-year-old is set to compete in the third week's first heat tonight (Monday, November 11) and wants to wow Marcus Wareing, Monica Galetti and Gregg Wallace.

However, the freelance chef's journey to the kitchen was not straightforward. "Food was a nightmare for me growing up, as I faced sensory issues as an autistic child," she said. "I still can find things challenging and overstimulating in a kitchen environment, but food is now my biggest passion."

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After completing her arts degree at Manchester University, Pippa started at Michelin-starred restaurants, including Noma and L'Enclume. The freelance chef's work has taken her from Manchester to the Isle of Man and Sheffield.

Pippa will appear alongside professional chefs Cristina from London, Ian from West Sussex, and Rachide from London in the competition and hopes her methods will deliver the recipe for success. She said: "I prefer to not be bound by a recipe and I keep my cooking as simple and as natural as possible.

"Using natural or wild produce in place of more conventional ingredients allows me to show a smaller footprint option through each plate.There are no pineapples grown in Sheffield but there is plenty of pineapple weed!"

Outside the kitchen, Pippa enjoys weightlifting, fishing with her father and attending philosophy club. See how Pippa fares on MasterChef: The Professionals tonight (November 11) at 9pm on BBC One. This week's episodes can be streamed now on BBC iPlayer.

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