Bradford’s Ben Whitehouse chats about his time as a trainee in Channel Four’s Kitchen Impossible.

“It has been a mad rollercoaster this summer but very exciting times,” says the 29-year-old from Bradford.

Ben is one of eight candidates with varying disabilities and conditions appearing on Channel Four show Kitchen Impossible.

Ben, who has Asperger’s, was 17 and had just left secondary school when he was diagnosed with the condition, which affects social interaction, communication, interests and behaviour. “It was a strange situation really because I struggled a lot through school without knowing the situation,” he recalls.

Social situations can prove challenging for people with Asperger’s. Ben recalls his difficulties talking to people and it also affects his organisational skills – he explains how he would take longer to do a simple task than someone who didn’t have the condition but the important thing is he achieves it in the end.

Ironically, for someone who struggled talking to people, Ben sought placements in customer services after leaving school – his ethos being to challenge his condition which he is determined will not hold him back in life.

“I like to challenge myself. When I was 16 or 17 I found it hard talking to people and being in social situations but instead of accepting that, I thought I would go into customer services and put myself into a situation and challenge myself. Every day I do that, it improves my confidence so much more,” explains Ben.

His introduction to FoodWorks – part of SupportWorks, which provides a range of services and opportunities for people with learning disabilities – came through his passion for cooking.

The organisation, which runs a catering facility at the Kala Sangam arts centre in Bradford, not only helped Ben to expand his culinary knowledge it has also helped him to develop his social skills.

“The good thing about food is there is no stopping – there is always something new to learn all the time,” says Ben.

When the Channel Four team behind Kitchen Impossible were seeking candidates for their programme, they approached FoodWorks who were proud to put Ben forward.

“I didn’t know much about the programme but I thought ‘wow’ it was exciting. It was the unknown and I like a challenge and I thought it would be great to get involved.”

Kerrie-Lee Barr, development manager of FoodWorks, who put Ben forward for the programme, recalls when he initially came to them he was ‘shy and reserved.’ “We took him on a work placement and within that week we noticed his incredible passion and enthusiasm – it was almost like when he entered into that space, the theatre of the catering industry, a lot of his inhibitions left him.”

When approached about the programme, Kerrie-Lee was keen to ensure it would be positive and that pastoral care and support would be in place.

“My hope and desire is that it will challenge peoples’ perceptions of varying abilities and the challenges that people face,” says Kerrie-Lee, who has asked Ben to be an ambassador for FoodWorks.

“He encompasses everything that FoodWorks is about. For me, it’s about working with people and finding out their aspirations and goals and working towards that.”

According to the charity Scope, a quarter of all disabled people are unemployed but would like to work. The mission of ‘Kitchen Impossible’ is to give the trainees an insight into one of the toughest industries as well as harness them with the skills to prove they are employable.

Guiding them through the intensive four week introduction to catering, with the hope they will eventually gain a job in this highly pressurised industry, is Michelin-starred chef Michel Roux Jr.

Tourettes, Autism, Down’s Syndrome and blindness are just some of the conditions the trainees cope with in their daily lives. Working in the highly pressurised catering industry is already proving challenging as viewers of the second episode saw when temperatures almost reached boiling point as the candidates were forced to scrap the main meal they were busily preparing for guests as the prawns had been sat out of the fridge for too long.

Viewers also saw them take on their greatest challenge so far – successfully cooking up dishes for the crowds at the prestigious Taste of London – one of the UK’s most prestigious food festivals.

Last week’s episode saw the candidates putting their skills into practice on work placements, challenging their abilities.

Throughout the programme the candidates’ skills are being strengthened and, naturally, their weaknesses are being explored and tested during the process but with a positive aim of finding them employment.

“From the first day we tried everything to help each other and support each other which is really great. We supported each other finding our strengths and weaknesses,” says Ben.

But supporting them through it is Michel Roux who Ben describes as a ‘lovely down to earth guy.’

He hopes the programme will inspire those with similar conditions to strive to achieve ambitions they may have thought were beyond their reach because of their disability.

“I feel so much more confident, I feel I could achieve so much more,” says Ben.

“I was in a bit of a rut. I never knew where I wanted to go but it has definitely made it more clear for me and one thing I would like to get out is to be a good example to other people with conditions and disabilities like myself. They can achieve anything they want to achieve if they put their minds to it.”

Since the programme aired Ben has already had a brush with stardom – appearing on ITV’s This Morning with Michel Roux to talk about the show.

“I think my life, compared to what it was before, it has gone mad, it has been a mad rollercoaster of a ride and it is great I can talk to people about it,” says Ben.