Italian chef Giorgio Locatelli joins Celebrity MasterChef as judge
By Lauren Del Fabbro, Press Association Entertainment Reporter
Chef and restaurateur Giorgio Locatelli has announced he is the new judge on Celebrity MasterChef.
The 63-year-old Michelin-starred chef is known for judging the Italian version of the amateur cooking show and will now join restaurant critic Grace Dent on the BBC spin-off cooking programme.
Locatelli will appear in the upcoming 21st series which, according to the chef, has already been filmed.
Announcing the news on the podcast Table Manners with Jessie and Lennie Ware, he revealed what type of judge he was on the series and said: “I think I was a bad cop. I’m strict.
“Strict about cleanliness and organisation. Those little skills that you teach them slowly.”
He said: “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.”
The contestants are yet to be announced, but Locatelli said that one star in particular stood out to him with the quality of some of their dishes.
He said: “There was somebody who really surprised me a few times in the positive.
“It was good fun to do, it was really good fun to be with them.
“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.”
The spin-off series sees a number of celebrities face a run of challenges, with judges overseeing their culinary skills put to the test until one star makes it to the end to claim the Celebrity MasterChef trophy.
Dent said of her new co-judge: “Giorgio Locatelli is a fabulous addition to our UK Celebrity MasterChef team. I’m a long-time admirer of his work and was a huge fan of Locanda Locatelli; for many years, it was one of my happy places to eat.
“I couldn’t be happier to combine our shared joy, passion, and expertise for food. I also love an opportunity to serve up a heavy dose of glamour in the MasterChef kitchen, and I have a feeling Giorgio is going to give me a real run for my money.”
Locatelli joins the show after TV presenter John Torode was sacked from the BBC following allegations of using racist language, which was upheld as part of the Lewis Silkin report.
Torode appeared in the most recent series alongside Dent, who replaced TV presenter Gregg Wallace after he was sacked following a series of misconduct allegations relating to his time on the show.
Previous winners include professional dancer and choreographer, 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.