Celebrity MasterChef 2016: the line-up, tasks, and everything you need to know about the new series

The culinary challenge series is back with a fresh batch of celebrities
They're back: John Torode and Gregg Wallace are judging another year of Celebrity MasterChef
BBC/Shine TV/Cody Burridge
Ben Travis22 June 2016

While the Euros and Wimbledon are taking over the TV schedule in the coming weeks, those with an aversion to sport needn’t worry.

Celebrity MasterChef is back for a brand new series, with twenty famous personalities taking on TV’s toughest cooking challenge.

Here’s what you need to know about the 2016 competition.

1) John Torode and Gregg Wallace are back

What would Celebrity MasterChef be without the combined judging talents of John Torode and Gregg Wallace?

While Marcus Wareing and Monica Galetti add a bit of extra tension to the more serious MasterChef: The Professionals, the sparky repartee between Torode and Wallace brings the fun in the celeb edition.

2) There are some well-known faces

‘Celebrity’ can be a loose term in the realm of reality shows, and while you won’t recognise everyone in the new series of MasterChef, there are some familiar faces in there.

Taking part this year is Sinitta, Strictly’s Gleb Savchenko, actor Sid Owen, boxer Audley Harrison, singer Jimmy Osmond, Blue member Simon Webbe, and Tommy Cannon of Cannon and Ball fame.

Following Zoella’s appearance on the Celebrity Bake Off, fellow YouTube star Marcus Butler is on the show too.

Celebrity Masterchef 2016 Contestants

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3) The schedules are going to be a bit tricky

Working out the schedule for each series of MasterChef can be a military operation. How many heats? How many rounds in each heat? How many episodes per week?

Making things even more complicated this time around are the Euro schedules, which might affect how the episodes are divided up and when they’ll air.

However, it seems that each week will see five new celebrities enter the kitchen, with two and a half hours’ worth of culinary challenges split over either two or three episodes.

4) Two celebrities from each heat go through to the semis

There are five hopeful contestants (and a few hopeless ones too) entering the kitchen each week, but only two from each set will go through to the semi-finals.

At the end of the first episode of each heat, one celebrity will be sent home, leaving the other four to fight it out for the remaining two places in the competition.

First heats: Alexis Conran, Donna Air, Tommy Cannon, Sinitta, Marcus Butler
BBC/Shine TV/Cody Burridge

5) All your favourite challenges are back

As for the tasks themselves, it’s a familiar set.

Kicking things off in the first round of each heat will be the mystery box, where the celebs are given a box of ingredients and are asked to make one dish from it, followed up by the restaurant challenge as they head into a professional kitchen.

After one of the five celebs leaves, the difficulty ramps up. There’s the notoriously difficult relay invention, where the team must create a dish together, working solo in separate stints with only 25 minutes each to contribute. They aren't allowed to leave instructions for what has previously been done – or say what the next step should be.

Then there’s the mass catering task out in the field, followed by a final two-course meal challenge back in the studio to clinch a place in the semis.

BBC One, 8pm

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