Hungry for It

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.