The line-up for the second season of ITV’s Cooking with the Stars was announced on Monday (11 April).
Like season one, series two of the show will also feature well-known public personalities, each partnered with a professional chef, as they receive a crash course in restaurant-standard cooking.
Strictly Come Dancing judge Anton Du Beke is among the eight celebrities who will appear this season. His partner will be TV chef Rosemary Shrager, who also appeared on season one.
Olympic athlete Dame Kelly Holmes will receive her culinary training from Peckham Manor’s Ronnie Murray, while Michelin-starred French chef Jean-Christophe Novelli will lend a helping hand to The Chase professional quizzer Anne Hegerty.
Former Love Island contestant Maura Higgins;This Morning host and reality TV personality Josie Gibson; TV doctor Ranj Singh; comedian Joe Wilkinson; and Woody Cook, son of BBC presenter Zoe Ball and DJ Fatboy Slim, have also been confirmed as season two participants.
Jack Stein, chef director across his father Rick Stein’s restaurant group, is paired with Higgins for this edition of Cooking with the Stars, once again hosted by Emma Willis and Tom Allen.
In a statement about the show’s forthcoming new season, Allen said: “Willis and I have been polishing our frying pans in preparation.”
Meanwhile, Willis said she hopes “there isn’t as much blood” this year as last season – possibly alluding to season one winner and McFly member Harry Judd’s bloody accident in the kitchen, while preparing ginger lamb chops, last year.
Katie Rawcliffe, head of entertainment commissioning at ITV, said: “With the warmth of Emma and the wit of Tom I’m excited to see what culinary delights this year’s cooking novices bring to the table.”
Last year’s contestants included another Strictly Come Dancing judge Shirley Ballas, I’m A Celebrity star DJ Naughty Boy, and TV presenter and Strictly star AJ Odudu.
The series is a partnership between Marks & Spencer, ITV and independent production company South Shore.
Additional reporting by Press Association