Celebrity MasterChef is cooking up a storm

Many folks had never heard of singer Myles Stephenson when he joined other stars for I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! last year.

Countless viewers had no clue he was part of Rak-Su, The X Factor winners of 2017’s contest, but it mattered little. He soon became one of the most likeable stars of ITV’s enduring reality contest.

Now he’s back on the box in one of the tastiest cooking shows around, and while Covid-19 might have changed everything we knew about reality in 2020, at least John Torode and Gregg Wallace will be offering a sense of normality. Yes, they return as hosts to remind us that: “Cooking doesn’t get much tougher than this!”

Aside from Myles, 19 other famous faces from the worlds of showbusiness, music and sport will be taking part, hoping to be crowned this year’s champion.

Like Mr Stephenson, Thomas Skinner might not be a household name, but he did prove to be a lot of fun on The Apprentice. Unlike many candidates on Alan Sugar’s job application show, he was refreshingly self deprecating.

Radio presenter and stand-up comedian Judi Love is also no shy and retiring violet. Earlier this year she won over a new wave of fans as a panellist on Loose Women, but is her real forte in the kitchen?

Well, we’ll have to wait and see, but a man who perhaps needs no introduction (but is going to get one anyway) is John Barnes. One of the most acclaimed football players of the past few decades, he’s also proved to be a force to be reckoned with off the pitch. Okay, his rapping on New Order’s classic song World in Motion might not have cemented him a career as a musician, but John has proved he’s willing to have a go at anything.

Fans of Strictly Come Dancing will remember his 2007 turn on that show, and although he and dance partner Nicole Cutler landed seventh place, Barnes’s salsa did land him an impressive 10 from the judges. In the years since he’s appeared in a wealth of beloved shows, from Who Do You Think You Are? and Celebrity Big Brother to a 2020 edition of Who Wants To Be a Millionaire Celebrity Special.

Last but not least is Shyko Amos, the Death in Paradise star who won countless hearts as Officer Ruby Patterson in the Beeb’s blues-busting crime drama.

So, what awaits them? Well, after an individual challenge to devise and cook one dish to show the judges their potential, the five celebs are split into two groups to take on the challenge of cooking for the first time in a restaurant kitchen for paying customers.

John, Myles and Judi head to Allegra to serve up modern British dishes, while Thomas and Shyko are sent to Yeni, which showcases Turkish cuisine.

Then, in the final test of culinary creativity, it’s back to the MasterChef kitchen as contestants are asked to prepare a dish of their own design in one hour.

The celebrities work furiously in a last attempt to prove themselves to the judges, because at the end of this test one of them will be going home.

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