A COTSWOLD chef suffered semi-final heartbreak as he crashed out of a BBC cooking show.

Wayne Sullivan, head chef of The Old Stocks Inn in Stow-on-the-Wold was eliminated from Masterchef: The Professionals on Tuesday night as the final six were revealed.

Mr Sullivan was one of two chefs to be knocked out.

As part of the challenge on Tuesday, he had to produce one outstanding dish that is dedicated to a person who has inspired him in his career.

He had one hour and 45 minutes to produce the dish.

As one of the six weakest chefs, he then had to return to the kitchen to face an invention test before the judges made their decision.

The former Gloucestershire College and Cheltenham Bournside School pupil made it to the last eight after managing to impress Monica Galetti and Marcus Wareing as well as Masterchef stalwart Gregg Wallace.

He also had to impress some of Britain's fiercest food critics along the way, including William Sitwell, Jay Rayner and Tracey MacLeod.

Mr Sullivan began the competition as one of 48 chefs.

Before the competition, he said that he considered not applying for Masterchef this year, after being knocked back twice before.

He said: "I gave up after the second time thinking that it wasn’t going to happen.

"I didn’t have a crisis of confidence per se, but I genuinely don’t believe I’m as good a chef as people say I am.

“My wife really pushed me to give it one more try, she was determined to see me believe in myself.

"We agreed that this would be the last time that I applied but in the end, she was right."

The winner will be crowned on Thursday December 22, after five more shows.