A COUPLE will battle it out to win £10,000 in a television cooking show.

Food historian and writer Sam Bilton and her husband Neil feature in this week’s regional heat of Channel 4’s My Kitchen Rules.

The Haywards Heath based couple are hoping to win the top prize. However, there is a problem - Neil can’t cook.

Sam said: “Understandably Neil wasn’t too keen at first as he doesn’t cook.

“The production team assured us that it’s quite normal for one partner to be more competent in the kitchen than the other. So he was more than happy to act as sous chef, especially when he realised there was £10,000 at stake for the winning duo.”

My Kitchen Rules sees 20 pairs cook off against eachother over eight weeks.

They are aided by some of the UK’s finest chefs and culinary gurus as the pair’s attempt to open a home restaurant in a bid to scoop the £10,000 prize.

Sam said: “Neither of us realised how tiring the filming would be. We were on location for around ten hours per day and there was a lot of hanging around between the actual filming.

“Whilst I’m used to cooking for 12 people at supper clubs, having a camera crew in the kitchen with you whilst you are cooking under a time constraint is incredibly stressful, which comes across in our episode. There was a lot of shouting on my part and tears of exhaustion and disappointment at the end of the evening. It was doubly stressful for us as I was trying to train Neil on the job so to speak as the time we’d had to practice beforehand had been limited.

“That said, Neil did rise to the challenge and I couldn’t have done it without him.”

She added: “I think our whole episode is funny as Neil makes pretence about the fact that can’t even chop an onion let alone cook, and boy does it show.

“I think the crew were particularly entertained at me shouting at Neil for almost breaking the electric spice grinder then me knocking the grinder out of his hands when I tried to intervene and show him how to use it properly. They liked it so much they’ve included it in the opening credits of the series.”

The show is a big hit around the world, especially in Australia, but it is only in its second series in the UK.

As well as competing in the regional heat this week they are expected to feature in later rounds. To see the couple’s heat go to channel4.com/programmes/my-kitchen-rules.