The wait is almost over. Masterchef (the Amateurs) will return for series eight next week.
Thousands of gastronomic hopefuls that couldn't be bothered getting any formal training have applied for the chance to have judges John Torode and Gregg Wallace mull over the flavour and texture combinations of their grub.
The only way to do this is to shovel whacking great forkfuls into one's gob because of the producers' insistence that they can't go back for a second attack. I'm guessing.
The shortlisted 70 applicants are tasked with creating a stunning dish, which John and Gregg (or Terrance and Phillip, as I like to call them - see below) will taste in isolation, without having seen the cooks in action, the mess they've made of their workbench and the three other sunken souffles.
The best 24 will go through, split into three groups of eight, to fight it out for one of just 12 coveted Masterchef aprons (sound familiar, Masterchef Australia fans?) and the chance to go through to the main competition.
Episode one sounds like it will be a doozy, because that's when we'll see the first group of eight battle it out. Two will be knocked out by the invention test and the remaining six will experience a lunchtime service in one of two professional London kitchens: Gilgamesh and the Living Room.
THEN they return to cook once again for the shouty twins.
The good thing about packing so much into this opening episode is there will be little time to hear the tedious sob stories about why the budding cooks couldn't turn their passion into a career without the aid of a TV talent contest.
* Masterchef series eight starts on Tuesday 17 January, 9pm on BBC1.
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