Cooking with the Stars 2026: Inside TV’s Tastiest Competition
Cooking with the Stars returns for its sixth series, featuring celebrities paired with top chefs in a culinary competition filled with drama and delicious dishes.
If your Monday evenings are currently missing a heavy dash of culinary chaos, friendly rivalry, and mouth-watering inspiration, you are in luck. ITV's hit entertainment format Cooking with the Stars is back for its sixth series, bringing a fresh batch of celebrities into the professional kitchen.
Before diving into who is chopping, frying, and occasionally burning their way through the 2026 season, let us take a quick look back at how the show sizzled onto our screens in the first place.
A Quick Slice of History
Launched in July 2021 and co-hosted by the brilliant pairing of Emma Willis and comedian Tom Allen, Cooking with the Stars was designed to flip the traditional celebrity cooking format on its head. Instead of casting seasoned home cooks or letting famous faces figure it out entirely on their own, the show introduced a unique mentoring dynamic.
Recognisable names with varying degrees of kitchen confidence were paired directly with heavyweight professional chefs. These mentors didn't just judge—they trained their celebrity partners from scratch, raising the culinary stakes week on week through intensive masterclasses and high-pressure blind taste tests. Over the years, the format has given us everything from chaotic egg-cracking disasters to genuinely Michelin-standard masterpieces, all while keeping viewers hooked with its fast-paced, studio-kitchen energy.
The 2026 Mentors and Celebrity Line-Up
Series 6 has turned the dial up to eleven, featuring a bumper line-up of 12 brave celebrity contestants ready to face the music—and the judging panel. Guiding them are some of the most celebrated culinary talents in the UK restaurant scene.
Here is a quick look at the stellar roster of professional chef mentors and their famous partners for this series:
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- Caroline Quentin (Beloved British Actress) mentored by Michael Caines: Two-Michelin-starred culinary powerhouse bringing supreme West Country precision to the kitchen.
- JB Gill (JLS Pop Star) mentored by Poppy O'Toole: Social media phenomenon and telly favourite known affectionately as the internet's reigning "Potato Queen".
- Mark Charnock (Emmerdale Soap Star) mentored by Shelina Permalloo: Vibrant Mauritius-born chef and cookery book author specialising in bright, sun-kissed island flavours.
- Harry Aikines-Aryeetey (Gladiators Star Nitro) mentored by Rosemary Shrager: Seasoned television veteran and formidable cookery school principal with decades of expert guidance under her belt.
- Dame Laura Kenny (Olympic Cycling Legend) mentored by Tony Singh: Celebrated Scottish-Indian chef renowned for his bold fusion dishes and infectious, high-energy personality. Scarlett Moffatt (TV Personality and Presenter) mentored by Jack Stein: Accomplished chef, author, and seafood specialist carrying on a proud family culinary legacy.
- Joey Essex (Television Reality Star) mentored by Nokx Majozi: Resident pie expert and high-flying London kitchen talent celebrated for her incredible technical craft.
- Lesley Joseph (Birds of a Feather Icon) mentored by Jean-Philippe Blondet: Executive chef at the world-renowned, three-Michelin-starred restaurant Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester.
- Seann Walsh (Stand-up Comedian) mentored by Sam Holland: Rising culinary star and dynamic young talent making a big splash on the professional scene.
- Zara McDermott (Documentary Maker and Presenter) mentored by Elliot Grover: Skilled head chef at CUT at 45 Park Lane, bringing top-tier luxury dining expertise to the contest.
- Karen Hauer (Strictly Come Dancing Professional) mentored by Angelo Sato: Innovative London restaurateur famous for blending sophisticated Japanese techniques with modern British produce.
- Bez (Happy Mondays Dancer) mentored by Kate Austen: Acclaimed fine-dining specialist with an impressive pedigree working in some of the globe's top kitchens.
Standout Dishes, Kitchen Drama, and Secret Tips
The 2026 series has already delivered major talking points, turning ordinary ingredients into extraordinary television. In the opening weeks, viewers watched Gladiators star Nitro put his incredible upper-body strength to unconventional use by cracking eggs with his bicep—much to the delight of host Tom Allen and the amusement of his mentor, Rosemary Shrager.
Technical challenges have pushed the stars far beyond their comfort zones, resulting in some truly memorable culinary triumphs and disasters alike. One standout moment saw Caroline Quentin tackle a notoriously tricky deboned stuffed ballotine of poultry under the watchful eye of Michael Caines, proving that years of acting experience are no match for a temperamental reduction sauce. Meanwhile, JB Gill impressed the studio with a vibrant Caribbean-inspired fusion dish that drew high praise for its delicate balance of scotch bonnet heat and sweet plantain puree, showcasing the deep-dive coaching provided by Poppy O'Toole.
We have also seen chaotic attempts at classic comfort food, where contestants tasked with elevating humble British pub grub occasionally overcomplicated things with pretentious foams and uncooperative tuiles. From Joey Essex attempting to reinvent spaghetti carbonara with wildly unpredictable results under Nokx Majozi's patient guidance, to Lesley Joseph serving up a magnificent, pastry-crisp apple tart tatin that left Jean-Philippe Blondet visibly emotional, the kitchen has been a rollercoaster of high emotion.
For those wanting to bring a bit of that studio magic into their own homes, the secret to nailing these dishes lies in preparation and tasting as you go—a golden rule hammered home by every single mentor on the show. Best of all for food lovers at home, the show is partnered with M&S Food, meaning every single recipe attempted on screen is made available online so you can try recreating these restaurant-quality dishes in your own kitchen. Tune in on ITV1 and ITVX on Monday evenings to see whose culinary dreams stay hot, and who gets chopped from the competition!
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