Overview
- The BBC announced a two-part MasterChef Christmas special that will screen on BBC One and stream on iPlayer this Christmas season.
- Episode one will feature five celebrity chefs — Aldo Zilli, Rachel Allen, Sabrina Ghayour, Seema Pankhania and Tony Singh — competing for the show's Golden Whisk.
- Those celebrity chefs must first cook dishes from Christmas leftovers and then deliver a main course and a pudding that showcase their individual styles.
- Episode two reunites restaurant critics Jay Rayner, Jimi Famurewa, Leyla Kazim, Tom Parker Bowles and William Sitwell in a critics' rematch for a separate title.
- Grace Dent and Michelin‑starred chef Giorgio Locatelli will judge both shows, continuing Dent's visible role on MasterChef since 2025, and the specials follow the franchise’s recent Celebrity MasterChef run, won in September by Lauren Steadman.