Matt Tebbutt joined Masterchef: The Professionals last night - and the new judge was a hit with viewers.
Tebbutt, 52 - who viewers will recognise from Saturday Kitchen Live - joined fellow chefs and judges, Marcus Wareing and Monica Galetti.
At the beginning of the show, Wareing introduced Tebbutt, saying: “Good to see you both, new competition, new kitchen and we have a new judge, welcome Matt!”
And Tebbutt replied: “Thank you very much, great to be here, great to be a part of the MasterChef family.”
His addition has been popular with viewers, who raved about the chef on X.
“I think Matt Tebbutt will fit in nicely, he's popular with viewers and he knows his craft,” one wrote.
“Just binge watched the entire weeks #mastercheftheprofessionals in one sitting. Just absolutely awesome and loved Matt on the show,” another said.
Another added: “@matt_tebbutt is a great addition to the kitchen.”
Before the series’ premiere, Tebbutt said he loved “every minute” of filming the show.
“It's been a joy,” he said. I've loved every minute and these two next to me have been so supportive.
“I've become so invested in the chefs and their progress and how they've changed throughout the series.”
He continued: “The thing that stood out for me was just how invested these chefs are and how much work goes into it for them outside of filming.
“Their commitment was clear and it was also clear to see how much they changed from week one to week seven - the progression was enormous.”
It was announced in September Tebbutt would replace Gregg Wallace as a judge on the cooking competition.
It comes after Wallace was sacked following a series of misconduct allegations relating to his time on the amateur series, MasterChef.
Wallace, who also co-presented its spin-offs Celebrity MasterChef and MasterChef: The Professionals, issued an apology saying he was “deeply sorry for any distress caused” and that he “never set out to harm or humiliate” in the wake of an investigation which upheld 45 out of 83 allegations against him.
Tebbutt said it was “an absolute honour” to be working alongside Wareing and Galetti, who he described as “titans of the food world”.
