Paralympic athlete Lauren Steadman has won the 2026 series of Celebrity MasterChef. The competition featured 15 celebrities from the sports, music, and comedy sectors. The final three contestants were Steadman, Olympic weightlifter Emily Campbell, and television personality Shakira Khan.
Judges Grace Dent and Giorgio Locatelli presided over the final, where the three contestants prepared three course meals. Steadman served pan fried scallops with chilli butter, coconut and spinach lentil dahl puree, and apple batons as a starter. Her main course consisted of beef wellington with truffle mash, caramelised shallot, butternut squash puree, tenderstem broccoli, and red wine jus. The final course was a sticky toffee pudding with dates, caramel sauce, and clotted cream ice cream.
The five week production by Shine TV for BBC included external challenges. Steadman produced a dog bone shaped dessert for fifty guests at Crufts and cooked at The Ritz for The Chef's Table segment. The series is available for streaming on BBC iPlayer.
Steadman joins a list of previous winners that includes Ginger Johnson, Vito Coppola, Wynne Evans, Lisa Snowdon, and Kadeena Cox. Other former champions include Riyadh Khalaf, Greg Rutherford, John Partridge, Angellica Bell, Alexis Conran, Kimberly Wyatt, Sophie Thompson, Ade Edmondson, Emma Kennedy, Phil Vickery, Lisa Faulkner, Jayne Middlemiss, Liz McClarnon, Nadia Sawalha, and Matt Dawson. The 2026 series reduced the initial field of 15 celebrity contestants to a final three.