Celebrity MasterChef: Portsmouth Paralympic icon Lauren Steadman to cook alongside Max Fosh, Una Healy and Melvin Odoom
Celebrity MasterChef is back - with a new-look presenter line-up.
A Paralympic hero who has her roots here in Portsmouth will be appearing on Celebrity MasterChef, it has been confirmed.
Lauren Steadman MBE, who has won a plethora of Paralympic medals for Great Britain, is taking part in the latest series of the BBC cooking show, fronted by Giorgio Locatelli and Grace Dent.
It comes after both Gregg Wallace and John Terode were removed from their positions at the helm of the show. Wallace was sacked following a series of misconduct allegations relating to his time on the show, while Terode was sacked from after allegations of using racist language, which was upheld as part of the Lewis Silkin report.
Steadman will be in the kitchen alongside YouTuber and comedian Max Fosh, BBC Radio presenter Melvin Odoom, and Una Healy from The Saturdays, all vying for a place in the final. Her episode will be the third of three heats, with the first week of the competition being broadcast on Tuesday, August 18.
The Paralympian graduated from the University of Portsmouth with a master’s degree in business and management, and trained with Portsmouth Northsea swimming club.
Locatelli, who is also a judge on MasterChef Italia, said: “I’m strict. Strict about cleanliness and organisation. Those little skills that you teach them slowly.
“We’re working with celebrities which is different from working with people who wanted to be a chef, but still, you can really see them growing in what they do, and so this is the thing that interests me more on the whole experience.
“There was somebody who really surprised me a few times in the positive. Everyone has already proven something in their lives and they have already achieved something. That’s why they’re there, because they are celebrities in different fields.
“The people who worked in entertainment found it so difficult to cook to the time. The sportspeople always hit the time. Their life is run by time. While the other people are all about creativity.”
Previous winners of the show include Strictly Come Dancing star Vito Coppola, who won the competition in 2024 and RuPaul’s Drag Race UK winner Ginger Johnson, whose real name is Donald Marshall, and claimed the title in 2025.
The series will run for five weeks, starting at 9pm on Tuesday, and will be broadcast on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.