Cooking with the Stars 2022 cast: Meet ITV show’s celebrities and chefs

By Lauren Morris

Published: Tuesday, 07 June 2022 at 12:00 am

Returning to ITV tonight is Cooking with the Stars – the culinary show that pairs celebrities with professional chefs in the hopes of creating Michelin starred meals.

Hosted by Tom Allen and Emma Willis, the series will see Strictly Come Dancing‘s Anton Du Beke, Olympic athlete Kelly Holmes and Love Island‘s Maura Higgins among other stars step foot in the kitchen – but only one can emerge the Cooking with the Stars 2022 champion.

Read on to find out more about the celebrity contestants and their chef mentors in this year’s series.

Cooking with the Stars 2022 cast: Meet celebrity contestants and chefs

Anton Du Beke

ITV

Instagram: @mrantondubeke

Paired with: Rosemary Schrager

Strictly Come Dancing judge Anton Du Beke will be waltzing into the kitchen for this year’s series of Cooking with the Stars.

On the show, he’ll be paired with chef Rosemary Schrager and together, they’ll be attempting to produce delicious dishes in the hopes of wowing the rest of the professionals.

Du Beke may have a challenge on his hands, however, with the professional dancer and TV personality admitting that he doesn’t “cook at all”.

“I’ve never cooked anything in my entire life. That is difficult for the judges to comprehend and understand really. When I said to producers I don’t cook they said ‘that’s fine but what’s your signature dish’ and I said ‘I don’t cook so I don’t have one’,” he said. “I don’t cook so the first time I cooked anything was the first morning of training with Rosemary. It was the first time I’d been in a kitchen and cooked something with a pan on a stove.”

He added that he managed to injure himself in the Cooking with the Stars kitchen, revealing: “I’ve stabbed myself in the finger and I’ve grated my knuckle so I’ve had a couple of blue plasters.”

Dame Kelly Holmes

ITV

Instagram: @damekellyholmes

Paired with: Ronnie Murray

Olympic gold medallist Kelly Holmes is swapping the running track for the kitchen stove in the upcoming series of Cooking with the Stars, on which she’ll be teaming up with professional chef Ronnie Murray.

The athlete and sports broadcaster has said that over lockdown, she’s had the chance to do more cooking but doesn’t consider herself a chef. “I love flavours and I like to see what’s in my cupboards and fridge and make something out of it. I really enjoy that to be honest. I’m not a chef and I’m not a cook at all but I was getting into it,” she said.

She added that she’s picked up a few tips whilst on the show, including how to “chop up an onion properly”.

“They teach you things like how to use a knife correctly and why you keep a root on an onion so it doesn’t fall apart. The way to chop an onion as opposed to how to slice an onion as it’s completely different. Also, things like how to make sauces and how to mix them up to get rid of the lumps so it doesn’t look like scrambled egg,” she said.

Josie Gibson

ITV

Instagram: @josiegibson85

Paired with: Tony Singh

TV presenter and reality star Josie Gibson is putting her cooking skills to the test on the 2022 season of this ITV show alongside her chef mentor Tony Singh.

The TV personality, who won Big Brother in 2010 and now regularly appears on This Morning, said that she signed up for the show in order to “fall back in love with cooking again”.

“I want to be able to invite all my friends over and cook a badass meal. I want to broaden my horizons and I want to pick up lots of skills from the chefs,” she said. “I was going to put myself on a cooking course anyway and now I’m being mentored by one of the best chefs in the country Tony Singh MBE.”

As for how she got on with her mentor Tony Singh, Gibson said: “He is strict but he is soft at the same time and he has got a lovely energy…He does want to win. He gets me up at half past six in the morning to go through the recipe and we don’t start until nine.”

Anne Hegerty

ITV

Instagram: @annehegertyuk

Paired with: Jean-Christophe Novelli

The Chase star Anne Hegerty may be known for her brains but is she as impressive in the kitchen as she is in the quizzing arena?

The TV personality, who is best known for appearing on Beat the Chasers, hosting Britain’s Brightest Family and appearing on I’m A Celebrity, is partnered up with Jean-Christophe Novelli for this year’s series, however she admitted that she originally turned down the show.

“I said no. I said you are kidding. I have an agent who is very good at working out what sort of things I should do and what sort of things the public would like to see me in. He is very bad at taking no for an answer so, basically, I got leaned on to do it,” she said.

She added that she doesn’t have a “flair for cooking” and doesn’t know what she’s meant to be “looking for” when tasking food. “I’ve absolutely no idea if what I’m tasting is what it’s supposed to be or not, I just don’t know.”

Maura Higgins

ITV

Instagram: @maurahiggins

Paired with: Jack Stein

Love Island star Maura Higgins is paired up with chef Jack Stein on this series on Cooking with the Stars and it seems as though she could be one to watch, as the TV personality has warned that she’s “very, very competitive”.

“I really enjoy cooking and I think it’s good to do a show where you’re going to take something away from it,” she said. “I’ve always kind of cooked at home but never cooked anything like sauces or anything like that from scratch, so I thought it would be nice to learn.”

Higgins, who appeared on Love Island’s 2019 season and has since competed on Dancing on Ice, presented on This Morning and hosted Glow Up Ireland, revealed that the only element of the competition that made her nervous was the time pressure. “Obviously if you’re cooking a meal at home you probably wouldn’t even spend an hour cooking but these meals are like something that I’ve never ever cooked before. There’s a lot to them and being under time pressure was making me nervous.”

Dr Ranj Singh

ITV

Instagram: @drranj

Paired with: Clodagh McKenna

TV doctor Ranj Singh is trading in his stethoscope for a frying pan in this series of Cooking with the Stars as the TV presenter teams up with chef Clodagh McKenna in a bid to win the competition.

The author and columnist is best known for appearing on This Morning as the show’s resident doctor and taking part in Strictly Come Dancing in 2018 as well as The Great British Sewing Bee, All Stars Musicals and The Weakest Link.

As for his cooking experience, Dr Ranj said that he’s “pretty good” at following a recipe. “I just never have the time. I live by myself so there isn’t really anyone to cook for. It takes some joy out of it and because I am so busy, food has to be a convenient thing. Grab and go, I always say food is functional. But I wanted to learn the art of cooking and enjoy the making side of it.”

He added that he “clicked” with his mentor Clodagh, adding: “She is like a ray of sunshine. It’s so much joy spending time with her and learning from her. I think as much as I have been wowed by her teaching and she is such a good teacher.”

Joe Wilkinson

ITV

Instagram: @gillinghamjoe

Paired with: Judy Joo

Joe Wilkinson is competing alongside mentor Judy Joo on this season of Cooking with the Stars, with the comedian revealing that his signature dish before going on the show was spaghetti bolognese.

“My other half doesn’t let me cook that for other people. It’s not really good enough for a dinner party. I do it from scratch, I don’t really, I just like saying, ‘from scratch,’” he said.

He added that his wife didn’t think he would last long in the competition, adding: “My missus thought I was a fish out of water. She didn’t think I’d get very far, and rightly so she has lived with me for a very long time. If she is expecting me to cook every night after the show she will be sorely disappointed.”

Woody Cook

ITV

Instagram: @woody_cook

Paired with: Mike Reid

DJ and TV personality Woody Cook is best known for appearing on Channel 4’s The Circle and Celebrity Gogglebox alongside his mum Zoe Ball – however, he’s now testing out his cooking skills on ITV’s Cooking with the Stars.

Cook said that he signed up for the show as he couldn’t cook previously. “I like pushing myself out of my boundaries and comfort zones. I think cooking is an important skill that I need to learn,” he said. “When else will I get an opportunity to learn how to cook, have a great time doing it, challenge myself, push my boundaries and maybe prove my surname, can Woody Cook?”

Cooking with the Stars 2022 chefs

Rosemary Schrager

ITV

Instagram: @RosemaryShrager

Paired with: Anton Du Beke

Rosemary Shrager is a chef and presenter who is best known for appearing on I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here, Ladette to Lady and Soapstar Superchef.

This is her second season of Cooking with the Stars, with the chef having mentored Johnny Vegas last year. In the culinary world, she began her career by working under Pierre Koffmann at London’s Tante Claire restaurant and in recent years, began judging The Big Family Cooking Showdown.

Ronnie Murray

ITV

Twitter: @ChefRonnieM

Paired with: Kelly Holmes

Private chef Ronnie Murray trained in patisseries and was previously a Group Head Chef at Hix Restaurants before moving onto Peckham Manor – a company which organises pop ups and supper clubs.

He previously competed on Great British Menu and took part in last year’s series of Cooking with the Stars, on which he mentored Griff Rhys-Jones.

Jack Stein

ITV

Twitter: @JackStein

Paired with: Maura Higgins

Jack Stein may be paired with Maura Higgins on this year’s series of Cooking with the Stars but he’s best known for being the Chef Director at The Seafood Restaurant. The son of chef Rick Stein, Jack has worked at Rick Stein’s Café, La Régalade and Tetsuya in Sydney.

He has previously appeared on Pointless Celebrities, Sunday Brunch, Steph’s Packed Lunch and 2021’s Cooking with the Stars, on which he mentored AJ Odudu.

Judy Joo

ITV

Instagram: @judyjoochef

Paired with: Joe Wilkinson

TV personality and chef Judy Joo is best known for her work on the Iron Chef season in the UK and America as well as her appearances on Korean Food Made Simple, Market Kitchen, The Best Thing I Ever Ate and Kitchen Inferno.

She founded Korean Street Food restaurant Seoul Bird in London and Soho’s Jinjuu after working at a number of Gordon Ramsay’s restaurants and The Fat Duck in Bray, and appeared on last year’s season of Cooking with the Stars, mentoring music producer Naughty Boy.

Jean-Christophe Novelli

ITV

Instagram: @jeanchristophenovelli

Paired with: Anne Hegerty

French chef Jean-Christophe Novelli is best known for founding the Novelli Restaurants across the world and for writing his cookbook Simply Novelli.

In TV, he has appeared on Hell’s Kitchen with Gary Rhodes, The games, Family Fortunes, This Morning and A Question of Sport, while in 2019, he won the third season of Celebrity Hunted, became a judge on ITV’s Culinary Genius and regularly appears on Steph’s Packed Lunch.