An FE lecturer is set to star in the final week of BBC TV show MasterChef: The Professionals.
Gary Maclean, a senior lecturer at City of Glasgow College, is one of four competitors in the running to win the prestigious competition. In the show to be screened this evening, he will cook for some of the world’s best chefs. Three of the four finalists will then head to Norway to work with Esben Holmboe Bang, the owner of the world’s most northerly Michelin-starred restaurant, Maaemo.
Mr Maclean was originally a student at the Glasgow College of Food and Nutrition - now part of City of Glasgow College - where he studied for eight years. He has been a lecturer at the college for almost 18 years.
This year, Mr Maclean was named UK Lecturer of the Year at the Craft Guild of Chefs Awards after helping his students win a canapé competition at Buckingham Palace.
‘The whole college is behind Gary’
Mr Maclean said he was “amazed” that he had got to the final week of MasterChef: The Professionals and that his main aim was “to impress my kids as I knew that one day they would be watching it back on TV.”
“I came into the competition with the attitude of taking each challenge one at a time and do the best I can in each task. Did I ever think I would make the [MasterChef] finals? No. But I did often dream about it,” he told the Radio Times.
City of Glasgow College principal Paul Little, who has been nominated for the leader of the year category in the TES FE Awards 2017, said: “The whole college is behind Gary and we all wish him every success. He is an extremely talented chef and a highly respected lecturer. Our students really enjoy his innovative teaching and cooking techniques.”
MasterChef: The Professionals - The Final Week will be broadcast at 8pm on BBC Two on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.
Photo credit: BBC / Endemol Shine
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