Cooking with the Stars is a British competitive cooking reality television series. It began airing on 13 July 2021 on ITV and is presented by Emma Willis and Tom Allen.
Eight celebrities are paired with a professional chef who becomes their mentor. The celebrities then compete against each other in a number of cooking battles where they prepare a range of different dishes. During cooking, they have the option to bang the gong (golden frying pan) which allows their mentor to step in and help for two minutes. The mentor chefs also act as the judges, and rate the other celebrity cooks, deciding the winner(s) who will be advancing to the next round, and the losers who are forced to compete in the cook-off. In the cook-off, the bottom two prepare the same dish, with no help from their mentor, in a bid to remain in the competition. The cook-off is judged by a blind taste test, meaning the chefs do not know which celebrity has cooked each dish and therefore potentially allowing them to send their own celebrity home.
The six-episode series was first announced by ITV in April 2021 for a premiere over the summer; it was commissioned from South Shore Productions with funding from British department store chain Marks & Spencer (M&S). It marked the first time that ITV had broadcast a programme co-commissioned with an advertiser in prime time. The series is filmed at Pinewood Studios.
M&S marketing director Sharry Cramond considered the programme to be part of an effort by the chain to emphasize its wider product ranges, and to "accelerate" trends since the COVID-19 pandemic of customers buying its individual products for home cooking as opposed to ready-made meals. As part of this sponsorship, the programme features product placement for M&S, while adverts and other surrounding promotions (including a weekly companion show hosted by YouTubers Woody & Kleiny) highlight the M&S product ranges featured during each episode. M&S had previously been involved with ITV as a sponsor for Britain's Got Talent.
The celebrities competing in the first series, along with their professional chef mentors were announced on 17 May 2021. The series was won by Harry Judd, who was mentored by Nisha Katona.
In the first episode, the first four celebrities competed against each other in two separate heats, with the theme being traditional British dishes. The winner of each heat advanced to the next week, whilst the losers competed in the cook-off and one celebrity was eliminated.
In the second episode, the remaining four celebrities competed in two separate heats. The week's theme was Italian dishes. The winner of each heat advanced to the next week, whilst the losers competed in the cook-off and one celebrity was eliminated.
In the third episode, the remaining celebrities prepared Indian dishes in the cooking competitions that consisted of two heats featuring three celebrities. The judges then decided which celebrity to send to the cook-off, whilst the other two celebrities were advanced to the next week.
In the fourth episode, the theme was French dishes. The contestants competed in two heats, and due to the odd number of contestants, the first featured two celebrities and the second featured three celebrities, with the loser of each heat competing in the cook-off as normal and one celebrity was eliminated.
In semi-final, the celebrities again competed in two heats, cooking South Asian dishes, with the winner advancing to the final, whilst the losing celebrities had to battle it out in the cook off for the remaining spot in the final.
In the grand final, the final three celebrities are tasked with cooking their mentor chef's signature dish, before the chefs decide which one of them will advance to the final cooking competition, and the two losers go head to head in a cook-off to win the second spot. In the final cooking battle, the remaining two celebrities prepare a dish they'd cooked previously in a bid to be crowned champion.
The celebrities competing in the second series were announced on 11 April 2022. The series was won by Dr. Ranj Singh, who was mentored by Clodagh McKenna.
In the first episode, the first four celebrities competed against each other in two separate heats, with the theme being dishes from Great Britain. The winner of each heat advanced to the next week, whilst the losers competed in the cook-off and one celebrity was eliminated.
In episode two, the remaining four celebrities competed against each other in two separate heats, with the theme being dishes from Spain. The winner of each heat advanced to the next week, whilst the losers competed in the cook-off and one celebrity was eliminated.
In the third episode, the remaining celebrities prepared Indian dishes in the cooking battles that consisted of two heats featuring three celebrities. The judges then decided which celebrity to send to the cook-off, whilst the other two celebrities were advanced to the next week. The two celebrities in the cook-off then competed against each other with one of them being eliminated.
In the episode four, the theme was French dishes. The contestants competed in two heats, and due to the odd number of contestants, the first featured two celebrities and the second featured three celebrities, with the loser of each heat competing in the cook-off as normal and one celebrity was eliminated.
In the semi-final, the celebrities again competed in two heats, cooking dishes from Thailand, with the winner advancing to the final, whilst the losing celebrities had to battle it out in the cook off for the remaining spot in the final.
In the grand final, the final three celebrities are tasked with cooking their mentor chef's signature dish, before the chefs decide which one of them will advance to the final cooking competition, and the two losers go head to head in a cook-off to win the second spot. In the final cooking battle, the remaining two celebrities prepare their own signature dish in a bid to be crowned champion.
The celebrities competing in the third series were announced on 17 April 2023.
The celebrities competing in the fourth series were announced on 2 April 2024.
The celebrities competing in the fifth series were announced on 17 June 2025.
The series received positive reviews from critics, with Ben Dowell of The Times describing the show as "exciting, charming and fun with accomplished editing helping to strain every drop of tension."