A senior marine officer from Lowestoft is hoping to combine his love of the sea and Italian heritage to make magic in the kitchen on MasterChef.

Amedeo De Masi, 32, is one of the contestants competing on the 18th series of the hit BBC show, which sees judges John Torode and Gregg Wallace search for the country's top amateur cook.

He will appear on Tuesday night's episode (April 19) in the fifth and final week of the heats.

Amedeo said: "I was born and raised in my home city of Naples in the south of Italy, where I found my love for the sea.

"This guided me to pursue a nautical career and I was then fortunate enough to travel all around the world.

"Without any plan, I decided to move to the UK to study for my Officer of the Watch certificate."

He loves cooking traditional Italian food and is passionate about fishing.

MasterChef continues at 8pm tonight (Tuesday) on BBC One and the series is available for catch up on iPlayer.