“Shakira will pull in younger viewers"
Love Island fan favourite Shakira Khan is among the stars reported to have signed up for the new series of Celebrity MasterChef.
The BBC culinary competition will return to screens later in 2026.
Shakira rose to fame on series 12 of Love Island and quickly became a popular cast member.
She finished runners-up and continues to be in the limelight alongside co-star and boyfriend Harry Cooksley.
According to The Sun, the 23-year-old will be swapping bikinis for aprons.
Also joining the Celebrity MasterChef kitchen will be Emily Steele, better known to viewers as Dynamite from Gladiators.
A source said: “Celebrity MasterChef really needs a strong star line-up for the new series after all the controversies with the judges over the last year, and producers have done just that.
“There are a really good mix of names so far, which cover a lot of bases.
“Shakira will pull in younger viewers who are obsessed with Love Island, while Dynamite will also provide some eye candy as well as appealing to family viewers.”
BBC sports presenter Jason Mohammad and Nitin Ganatra are also said to be joining the show.
The source added: “Nitin is a legend among soap fans, while Jason draws in the sports crowd. There is something for everyone so far.”
The upcoming series will be the first since long-time host John Torode was axed from the BBC show.
He had fronted the programme for two decades alongside Gregg Wallace.
Gregg was sacked after an external investigation upheld 45 complaints about his behaviour on the series.
John stepped down in July 2025 after allegations that he used a derogatory racist slur in the workplace in 2018.
The complaint against him was revealed in a report into Gregg’s inappropriate behaviour.
In September, the BBC confirmed that Grace Dent and Anna Haugh would take on judging duties for the 22nd series of the programme.
The new celebrity edition follows last year’s competition, which was won by Ginger Johnson of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK.
In a tense December finale, the television personality beat rugby legend Alun Wyn Jones and broadcaster Dawn O’Porter to claim the title.
The BBC has yet to confirm an official air date for the new series.
Meanwhile, Shakira Khan has been involved with Refuge’s Home is Where the Hurt is campaign for International Women’s Day and spoke about witnessing domestic abuse while growing up British-Pakistani in Burnley.
She had never witnessed violence in her own home but she had seen it in her wider circle of family and friends.
Shakira told Metro: “Whether that be people I’ve gone to school with and their mothers have gone through it, or colleagues with husbands who are coercing and controlling them.
“It is completely normal, which is a real shame.”
Although this is not the case for all South Asian families, Shakira argued that her culture plays a part in normalising domestic violence.
She added: “I think what it stems back to is that it’s been years and years of oppression against women, where they are almost property of the man.
“I know there have been women who I’ve spoken to and their husbands don’t let them go shopping, don’t let them go out and see their friends.
“He drops them off outside of work, picks them up outside of work, and there’s no other contact except the people at work. So that is like their sanctuary and they dread going home.”
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