TWO mums will be putting their love of cooking to the test this week when they take part in a new competition for Channel 4 called ‘My Kitchen Rules UK’.

Debbie Spencer-Jones, from Bentworth, and Catherine Grassi, from Lasham, have been firm friends for 15 years.

They share a passion for creative cooking and, whether rustling up an outdoor feast for their families or a party for a whole village, have always loved the way food brings people together.

The enthusiastic pair were encouraged to apply to take part in the competition by mutual friend Stacey Hedges, and since then they have embraced all the challenges that the competition has thrown at them.

This new entertaining and competitive cooking series is presented by two legends of British cuisine, two-time Michelin Star restaurateur and chef Michael Caines and Queen of home cooks and food writer Prue Leith, who join forces to judge 16 pairs of entrepreneurial amateur cooks who open their own restaurant at home for one ambitious night in a bid to scoop the £10,000 prize and the right to say: “My kitchen rules!”

At the end of each weekly regional heat the action moves to kitchen headquarters as the competition heats up. The highest scoring team of the region wins immunity and goes through to the next leg, and the middle-ranking teams cook off against each other. But the lowest-scoring team from each region will be eliminated, so every team needs to hit the ground running.

Selected to represent Hampshire as part of the southern region competition, Debbie and Catherine’s first challenge was to run a Jane Austen-inspired pop-up restaurant in Catherine’s home, attended and judged by Michael Caines and Prue Leith, where they highlighted local produce.

For the first of their episodes filming took place in Lasham, Alton and Alresford, footage of which was due to be aired this week, from Tuesday to Friday at 5pm on Channel 4.

Inspired by their experience working together on the programme, Catherine and Debbie are now planning to offer cookery masterclasses from home in the New Year.