They will be joined by other famous faces including comedian Vic Reeves, Olympic gold medallist Rebecca Adlington and opera star Lesley Garrett.
French tennis ace Henri Leconte will also be among the 20 famous faces hoping to serve up the perfect recipe on the BBC One Show.
Seven times world snooker champion Stephen Hendry is in the frame along with pop star Rachel Stevens, Outnumbered’s Tyger Drew-Honey, Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels actor Nick Moran, and singer Patti Boulaye.
Other celebrities putting their cooking skills on a knife edge are Union J’s Jaymi Hensley, TV presenters Angellica Bell, Barney Harwood, Julia Somerville and Aasmah Mir, actor Brian Bovell, comedian Abdullah Afzal, Radio 1’s Dev Griffin and Googlebox’s Reverend Kate Bottley.
Lesley, 62, was cagey about her chances revealing only that she’s an expert at toast and heating soup.
She joked: “My signature dish is anything that’s at the bottom of the fridge close to its sell-by date.
“I don’t do cheese on toast though because dairy products are bad for the voice.”
Over the course of six weeks, the group will be whittled down to one winner who will be decided by seasoned judges John Torode and Gregg Wallace.During the first four weeks the stars will be competing in groups in the Mystery Box Challenge before being thrown in at the deep end in a professional restaurant kitchen cooking for paying customers.
The five survivors then head back to the MasterChef kitchen to prepare a two-course menu of their own design for John and Gregg with one unlucky contestant having to hang up their apron.
Other challenges facing the successful contestants as they progress in the competition include a skills and knowledge test and a mass catering challenge where they will have to cook for large numbers of people at venues which include The Oval cricket ground, King’s College Dental Institute and the Francis Crick Institute.
The battle for a place in the semi-finals will also see them having to cook for past Celebrity MasterChef winners, including last year’s champion Alexis Conran.During a 90-minute finale, the three finalists will face the Chef’s Table, led by Michelin-starred chef Jason Atherton.
BBC commissioning editor Carla-Maria Lawson said: “Celebrity MasterChef is an astonishing test of culinary ability from people who are not recognised for their talents in the kitchen.
“Every year we are blown away by celebrities’ gastronomic prowess and this year doesn’t disappoint.
“The line-up is one of the strongest we have ever seen and we hope it will entertain and tantalise viewers in equal measure.”
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