RAF Halton the scene for Masterchef show

RAF Halton was featured during the episode of MasterChef which aired on BBC One on Wednesday April 4

The nervous contestants, who are all amatuer chefs, were tasked with cooking a three course meal for 100 veterans, serving airmen and recruits at a special lunch to celebrate 100 years of the RAF.

Presenters and Masterchef judges Greg Wallace and John Torode were seen riding in a helicopter at the site, before meeting new recuits who are in training.

Squadron Leader Samson was interviewed by the pair and explained that the training is so intense that recruits must eat 4,000 calories a day to maintain their health and ability to complete the gruelling schedule.

Dishes on offer to guest at the dinner, which was made by two teams of contestants included a chocolate tart, salmon noodles and a guinea fowl dish.

The winning team - the blue team - went straight through to the next  round, while the red team were forced to fight for their places in the competition by cooking again in the Masterchef kitchen - thanks to a flawed vegetarian mushroom dish.

The presenters also interviewed veterans who were the guests of honour at the dinner.

Group Captain (retired) Phil Humphry, said: “There’s a large number of people being catered for, and with  the facilities available I won’t imagine they are going to go for Cordon Bleu - but that would be a nice experience of it happens.”

And Group Captain Brian Rogers (retired) MBE explained why the celebration dinner was so significant for him.

He said: “The highlight of my life was joining the  RAF, and the low point of my life was leaving the airforce, because I loved every minute of it.”

You can watch the episode on now on the BBC iPlayer.