Phil Vickery signs up for Celebrity MasterChef 2011
Thursday 08th Sep 2011
The ever popular Celebrity MasterChef returns to BBC One this autumn with a fresh host of well-known faces - including former England rugby captain Phil Vickery - battling to become Celebrity MasterChef 2011.
In this sixth series celebrities cook for the last time ever in the original MasterChef studio, in what promises to be even more tense, thrilling and ambitious than previously.
John Torode and Gregg Wallace once again put the celebrities’ palates to the test – but they must get through seven challenges to prove their culinary worth before making it through to the Quarter Finals.
The following 16 celebrities will be concocting a wide-range of culinary creations: actors Linda Lusardi, Ricky Groves, Margi Clarke, Shobu Kapoor, Nick Pickard and Sharron Maughan; TV presenters Tim Lovejoy, Aggie MacKenzie, Kirsty Wark, Colin McAllister and Justin Ryan; from the world of sport, Darren Campbell MBE and former England rugby captain Phil Vickery, musician and songwriter Danny Goffey, entrepreneur Michelle Mone, and historian Ruth Goodman.
The 30 programmes will run across six weeks, with the first four weeks concentrating on the heats. Four celebrities will compete each week facing a series of seven challenges designed to assess their culinary prowess, including the famed Skills Test, Basic Recipe Test and Mystery Box Test.
Then it’s on to the mass catering challenge with the celebs firstly teaming up in pairs to prepare ten identical dishes in the MasterChef kitchen before being let loose on hundreds of hungry customers including London’s Brit School students and Oxford Street’s John Lewis employees.
Next they face The Classic Recipe Test and finally the contestants must cook their best two-course meal in a bid for a place in the Quarter Finals. The results of this test will see one celebrity go home while the remaining three hopefuls must survive the famed Pressure Test – cooking a busy lunch service at a top London restaurant. After just an hour of learning the ropes they are set loose to prepare dishes for paying customers. It’s then back to MasterChef HQ to show John and Gregg what they have learnt with a daunting Invention Test inspired by their particular restaurant.
The battle for a Semi Final place reaches its climax when the remaining celebrities face the infamous Critic’s Table. They must cook a faultless three-course meal for three of the most knowledgeable and discerning cookery judges from the Woman’s Institute to earn a place in the semi final week, and be one step closer to being crowned Celebrity MasterChef Champion.
Two celebrities from each week go through to week five to be whittled down across the week after facing more nail-biting challenges including preparing dinner for the Army, cooking on the set of Spooks, facing the notorious restaurant critics, and the awe-inspiring Chef’s Table, an experience to set the most hardened professional chefs quaking in their whites!
The final programme culminates as always with the cook off. John and Gregg want to see the three finalists draw on all the skills they have learnt during their MasterChef journey when they must cook their best three-course meal. The judges must then decide who the true cooking star is and worthy of becoming Celebrity MasterChef 2011, following in the footsteps of previous winners, Lisa Faulkner, Jayne Middlemiss, Liz McClarnon, Nadia Sawalha and Matt Dawson.
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