A festive battle of the pans is coming to BBC One this Christmas, with MasterChef lining up celebrity chefs and restaurant critics for a two-part special that will also stream on iPlayer.
Restaurant critic and broadcaster Grace Dent will judge the contest alongside Giorgio Locatelli, the Italian Michelin-starred chef and restaurateur.
Five well-known chefs will cook against each other in the first episode, each bringing a distinctive style of their own to what the broadcaster is billing as the ultimate festive cook-off.
Fighting for the golden whisk are Italian celebrity chef Aldo Zilli, Irish TV chef and cookery school teacher Rachel Allen, and British-Iranian TV presenter, chef and bestselling author Sabrina Ghayour.
They will be joined by Seema Pankhania, the social media food sensation, and Tony Singh, the Scottish chef and restaurateur.
From left: Seema Pankhania, Rachel Allen, Tony Singh, Sabrina Ghayour, and Aldo Zilli (BBC/Shine TV)
The five will take on classic MasterChef challenges in what the programme describes as the ultimate test of culinary skill.
Their first task is to create dishes from Christmas leftovers, putting their innovative abilities to the test.
They must then produce both a main course and a pudding that showcases their individual cooking styles.
Episode two brings back some of the country’s top restaurant critics, who will compete for the title in a festive rematch.
Jay Rayner, the current critics’ champion, is among those taking part, alongside Jimi Famurewa, Leyla Kazim, Tom Parker Bowles and William Sitwell.
The BBC has not yet announced what date the festive special will air.
Lauren Steadman won the last season of Celebrity MasterChef (Getty)
The most recent season of Celebrity MasterChef ended in September, and was won by Paralympic athlete Lauren Steadman.
She triumphed over Olympic weightlifter Emily Campbell and TV personality Shakira Khan in the final, which saw the contestants cooking and presenting a three-course meal for Dent and Locatelli.
Steadman’s winning meal included scallops with a lentil dahl puree, beef wellington with truffle mash, and a classic sticky toffee pudding with dates.
Finals week also saw her create a dog bone-shaped dessert for 50 guests at the prestigious Crufts dog show.
Other celebrity contestants on the show included ballet dancer Eric Underwood, The Wanted singer Jay McGuinness, comedians Donna Preston and Joe Pasquale, actor Nitin Ganatra, and YouTuber Max Fosh.
