A trio of MasterChef Christmas specials come to BBC One this year – here’s all you need to know
MasterChef, MasterChef: The Professionals and Celebrity MasterChef will each get their own special episodes this festive period.
In Celebrity MasterChef Christmas Cook-Off (Tuesday, 21 December at 8PM and Thursday, 23 December at 9PM), ten of the most memorable celebrities from past series come back to compete in two festive themed specials, hosted by MasterChef Judges Gregg Wallace and John Torode.
In the first (Tuesday, 21 December), those appearing are Strictly professional Oti Mabuse, reality star Joey Essex, footballer Neil Ruddock, comedian Judi Love and actor Su Pollard.
The second (Thursday, 23 December) will see reality star Gemma Collins, actor and TV presenter Joe Swash, actor and entertainer Les Dennis, singer Mica Paris and broadcaster the Rev Richard Coles return.
They’ll cook off to see who can take home the title of Christmas champion and the all-new Celebrity MasterChef Golden Whisk trophy. Expect plenty of laughs, some great Christmas banter, a bit of sing song and some surprisingly good food as the celebrities all do their best to be crowned the Celebrity MasterChef Christmas Champion.
In the MasterChef Champions Special (Friday, 31 December at 8:30PM), five of the most memorable amateur champions return to the MasterChef kitchen in a cooking contest to rival any other.
Those taking part are: Tim Anderson – Champion 2011, Ping Coombes – Champion 2014, Saliha Mahmood-Ahmed – Champion 2017, Kenny Tutt – Champion 2018, and Irini Tzortzoglou – Champion 2019. Each of them is back to show how far their food and careers have progressed and to compete for the title of MasterChef Champion of Champions 2021.
Setting their first challenge is a special guest judge, singer and host of the award-winning food podcast, Table Manners, Jessie Ware.
Then each of the five are tasked with pulling out all the stops to deliver a two-course show stopping feast for the judges that is not only MasterChef champion quality food, but also represents their journey since winning the competition. The chef who produces the most creative, inventive and delicious menu will be crowned the MasterChef Champion of Champions 2021.
Finally in MasterChef: The Professionals Rematch Special (Monday, 27 December at 8PM), four of the most memorable chefs from past MasterChef: The Professionals series return to show how far their food and careers have progressed and face demanding challenges set by the MasterChef judges Monica Galetti, Marcus Wareing and Gregg Wallace.
Competing this year are: Philli Armitage-Mattin – Finalist 2020; Jamie Park – Finalist 2017; Santosh Shah – Finalist 2020 and Bart van der Lee – Finalist 2020.
The gloves are off as they pull out all the stops to deliver a show stopping seasonal feast that is creative, delicious and spectacular enough to see them crowned champion. One thing is for certain – the competing chefs go all out cooking extraordinary food that sings celebration.
Dates for the specials, all of which will air on BBC One and BBC iPlayer, are to be announced.
