Celebrity MasterChef fans call 2026 season "TV gold" as they praise new judging team

Celebrity MasterChef returned to BBC One and BBC iPlayer tonight (18 August) as the 21st season of the long-running series got underway, and fans seem to be impressed by some new additions.

The latest edition of the BBC series sees 15 famous faces battle it out for the honour of being crowned champion, though they'll have to impress the new judging duo of Grace Dent and Giorgio Locatelli.

The first heat sees Emily Campbell, Jason Mohammad, Joe Pasquale, Jay McGuinness and Shakira Khan compete for a spot in the next round, with the remaining episodes from the heat airing on Wednesday (19 August) and Friday (21 August).

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As part of the competition, they first had to cook a personal dish, before their palettes were tested in a tasting game (this was won by Pasquale). Finally, they had to recreate one of Locatelli's gnocchi dishes, with Khan winning this cook-along challenge.

These revived twists to the format, as well as the brand-new judging team of Dent and Locatelli, were widely praised by fans of the series, who welcomed the light-hearted and fun approach to culinary proceedings.

"Loving the duo of Grace and Giorgio on #CelebrityMasterchef such a refreshing presentation these days, will start watching again," wrote one user on X, while another said that the cook-along challenge would "produce some TV gold".

One user enjoyed the tasting challenge and even suggested that a less highbrow version could be trialled in the future, quipping: "I enjoyed that round. Also I'm imagining a variation like, 'is it a fish finger? Yes. Baked beans, yes! Slice of bread? Correct!'"

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A fourth user said that the format and judging unit was "working well", while a fifth wrote: "It's good that the show has changed the format and is more like MasterChef Australia. I'm liking Giorgio and Grace presenting."

The cast for the season also includes Donna Preston, Emily Steel, Eric Underwood, Nitin Ganatra and Tom Simons, all of whom are in the second heat. The final heat, meanwhile, consists of Lauren Steadman, Max Fosh, Melvin Odoom, Sue Cleaver and Una Healy.

Celebrity MasterChef airs on BBC One and streams on BBC iPlayer.

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Reporter, Digital Spy George is a freelance writer who specialises in Movies and TV. After graduating with a degree in Film Studies and Journalism from De Montfort University, in which he analysed the early works of Richard Linklater for his dissertation, he wrote for several websites for GRV Media.  His film tastes vary from blockbusters like Mission: Impossible and John Wick to international directors such as Paolo Sorrentino and Hirokazu Kore-eda, and has attended both the London and Berlin film festivals.