Two Bristol contestants among MasterChef: The Professionals finalists

Two chefs from Bristol are among the four finalists on this year's series of MasterChef: The Professionals.  

Tommy Thorn was born Bristol and until recently worked at now-closed Ethicurean in the city, while Kasae Fraser lives in Bristol and works at Robun in Bath.  

Both will appear in the finals week of the BBC cooking series, which airs from today (December 6) until Friday.  

Head chef Tommy lives in Worle with his partner Courtney and their little boy, after being born in Bristol before moving to Thornbury.

On getting to the finals, the 27-year-old said: “I decided to enter the competition for mixed reasons. I’ve been a huge fan of the show from a very young age and I wanted to push myself to set an example for my son.  

“Getting to finals week is something I am extremely proud of. The competition has been such a learning curve and I’ve enjoyed each and every round. It feels like a bit of a dream!

“The competition has come with many challenges and one that sticks to mind is the pop-up round. To cook for that many people in a new environment is something I’ve not had much experience in!”

Kasae lives in Bristol with her partner, Vincent - who is also a chef - after growing up in a small town in Australia called Mildura.  

She is head chef at contemporary Japanese restaurant Robun in Bath but recently also took on a restaurant opening with the same company.  

On making the final, the 29-year-old added: “I knew that in the not too distant future, me and my partner would be opening our own restaurant. So I wanted to try and get myself out there as much as possible. 

“I really wanted to push myself and do this amazing competition before we opened our restaurant and life gets little bit more crazy! 

“I spent the first half of the competition doubting myself and then I had a mental shift, where I knew I had to believe in myself or I’d never make it. Then I started to enjoy it, which made it a lot easier to be proud of how far I’d come. 

“I didn’t know how far I would get - it’s a really tough group of chefs to cook against. But I’m more than proud that I’ve made it to finals week and have the chance to cook not just against, but alongside these chefs.”  MasterChef: The Professionals finals week will air across three nights from today (December 6) until Friday on BBC One.