This year’s Christmas special will be a little different…
MasterChef is back for a festive special, but this year’s Christmas show will look a different.
As well as the usual Celebrity MasterChef Cook Off, which will see four returning celebrities returning to the famous kitchen to make a festive dinner, we’ll also see some of the show’s favourite critics stepping into the kitchen for a chance to wow judges John Torode and Greg Wallace, alongside returning champions Ping Coombes (2014), Kenny Tutt (2018) and Nikita Pathakji (MasterChef: The Professionals 2022).
Stepping up to the plate this year will be I’m a Celebrity 2023‘s Grace Dent, along with Leyla Kazim, William Sitwell, Jay Rayner and Jimi Famurewa, who will all be taking on two “demanding” cooking challenges.
As they take on the ultimate cooking challenge that is MasterChef, read on for everything you need to know about the cast.
MasterChef: Battle of the Critics 2023 line-up
Grace Dent
Instagram: @gracedent
Grace Dent is a columnist, broadcaster, journalist and food critic, who has worked on MasterChef UK.
She is a restaurant critic for The Guardian, and from 2011 to 2017, wrote a restaurant column for the Evening Standard.
Leyla Kazim
Instagram: @leyla.kazim
Leyla is a critic on BBC One’s MasterChef and MasterChef: The Professionals and a presenter on BBC Radio 4’s award-winning weekly show The Food Programme.
William Sitwell
Instagram: @williamsitwell
William Sitwell is an editor, writer and broadcaster. He is also a restaurant critic for The Daily Telegraph and the former editor of Waitrose Food.
Jay Rayner
Instagram: @jayrayner1
Jason Rayner, known as Jay, is a journalist and food critic. He was raised in Harrow, London, and studied politics at the University of Leeds, where he edited the Leeds Student newspaper.
After graduating, he worked as a freelance journalist for newspapers including The Observer and The Independent on Sunday.
Jay shared the news that he’d be taking part in the Christmas special on X, formerly Twitter.
Alongside a collage of photos, he wrote: “Don’t know what you wanted for Christmas, but here’s what you’re gonna get: a @MasterChefUK special in which us critics cook off against each other, featuring @Jimfam @WilliamSitwell @leylakazim @gracedent and yours truly. I know. I know. it’s all your Christmas wishes come true.”
Don’t know what you wanted for Christmas, but here’s what you’re gonna get: a @MasterChefUK special in which us critics cook off against each other, featuring @Jimfam @WilliamSitwell @leylakazim @gracedent and yours truly. I know. I know. it’s all your Christmas wishes come true. pic.twitter.com/h09yD2JG2w
— Jay Rayner (@jayrayner1) November 28, 2023
Jimi Famurewa
Instagram: @jimfamished
Jimi Famurewa is a journalist and food critic.
As a freelance journalist, Famurewa has written on diverse subjects for publications including The Guardian, GQ, Empire, Wired, Grazia and Time Out.
MasterChef: Battle of the Critics will air on BBC One and BBC iPlayer on Thursday 28th December at 8pm.
Check out more of our Entertainment coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what’s on.
Try Radio Times magazine today and get 10 issues for only £10 – subscribe now. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.