The ever-popular Celebrity MasterChef is back on BBC One for its 18th series and this summer is set to get even hotter, as the who’s who of music, comedy, drama and showbusiness battle it out to become the Celebrity MasterChef 2023 Champion.

Across six weeks, judges John Torode and Gregg Wallace will be putting their own taste buds through a sensory assault course, as they discover which celebrities have the palate and skill to chop, slice and sizzle their way to lifting the iconic Celebrity MasterChef trophy.

It’s the start of the Celebrity MasterChef Heats, and this week the first five celebrities up for the culinary challenge are broadcaster and reality star Dani Dyer, actor James Buckley, comedian and actor Marcus Brigstocke, TV personality Mica Ven and TV and Radio personality Richie Anderson.

The first challenge for the five hopefuls is Under The Cloche. In front of each celebrity is a cloche, each concealing a different ingredient. With access to a larder, the celebrities must create one plate of food showcasing their ingredient to demonstrate to the judges they have potential. With nerves running high and just over an hour to create their dish from scratch, the contestants must think on their feet to impress the judges.

Then in the final test of culinary creativity, the celebrities are asked to prepare their Dinner Party Dishes – a main course and a dessert that they would cook to impress someone who was coming round to eat – in just one hour and fifteen minutes. The celebrities work furiously in a final attempt to prove themselves to John and Gregg because at the end of this test, one of them will be going home.