Celebrity MasterChef has revealed a new judge for its 21st series.
Chef Giorgio Locatelli, 63, will join the judging panel of the BBC One cooking competition, which challenges celebrities to cook under pressure in a series of culinary tasks.
Locatelli, best known for his role on MasterChef Italia, will appear alongside Grace Dent for the new series that has already been filmed.
He announced the news while speaking on the Table Manners podcast with Jessie and Lennie Ware.
Celebrity MasterChef announces new judge
Discussing what type of judge he is, Locatelli said, “I think I was a bad cop. I’m strict.
“Strict about cleanliness and organisation. Those little skills that you teach them slowly.”
He said: “We’re working with celebrities which is different from working with people who wanted to be a chef, but still, you can really see them growing in what they do, and so this is the thing that interests me more on the whole experience.”
The contestants are yet to be announced, but Locatelli said that one star in particular stood out to him with the quality of some of their dishes.
He said: “There was somebody who really surprised me a few times in the positive.
“It was good fun to do, it was really good fun to be with them.
“Everyone has already proven something in their lives and they have already achieved something. That’s why they’re there, because they are celebrities in different fields.
“The people who worked in entertainment found it so difficult to cook to the time. The sportspeople always hit the time. Their life is run by time. While the other people are all about creativity.”
Celebrity MasterChef sees a number of celebrities face a run of challenges, with judges overseeing their culinary skills put to the test until one star makes it to the end to claim the Celebrity MasterChef trophy.
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Locatelli joins the show after TV presenter John Torode was sacked from the BBC following allegations of using racist language, which was upheld as part of the Lewis Silkin report.
Torode appeared in the most recent series alongside Dent, who replaced TV presenter Gregg Wallace after he was sacked following a series of misconduct allegations relating to his time on the show.
Previous winners include professional dancer and choreographer, Vito Coppola, who won the competition in 2024 and RuPaul’s Drag Race UK winner Ginger Johnson, whose real name is Donald Marshall, and claimed the title in 2025.
Are you excited to see Chef Giorgio Locatelli join Celebrity MasterChef? Let us know in the comments.
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