𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

When the cameras start rolling on Celebrity MasterChef, the contestants may be the ones sweating over the stoves, but there is plenty going on behind the scenes.

The 21st series has a new judging partnership at its heart, with chef Giorgio Locatelli joining food critic Grace Dent.

Dent said that filming, which takes place at Birmingham’s Digbeth Loc Studios, could last for 12 or 13 hours a day, with cameras rolling continuously.

“I’d love to come here with a character and go, ‘this is how I’m going to come across’, but I don’t think you could keep it up for very long,” she said. “They’re filming continually and I don’t have any control over how they cut me, so really you’re just getting the real me.”

Dent has been based in Birmingham for a year and said she felt “like a part of the furniture” in the city.

“I do live here most of the time,” she said. “I love Birmingham, I love the shopping, I love the people.

“I never feel lonely in Birmingham, because there’s always someone that wants to talk to me, and once you get talking, it goes on and on because people love a little gossip.”