West End star Denise Van Outen among a host of celebrities who will take part in a new cooking programme which begins tonight. 

Cooking With The Stars will feature the Basildon-born star alongside fellow Essex performer Harry Judd.

The show sees eight famous faces paired with an accomplished chef who will mentor them towards becoming restaurant-standard cooks.

The mentors will then become judges, rating the other celebrity contestants, with the bottom two at risk of leaving the competition.

This eliminator round will be decided by a blind testing from the chefs, in which they may unknowingly turn on their mentee.

Denise has been teamed up with  Italian chef and restaurateur Francesco Mazzei.

In a message to her fans on Instagram Denise said: "This show is so much fun. 

"Love my chef @chef_francescomazzei (love his Italian cuisine, not a fan of his country's football result.)

"Francesco is so talented. I loved beind his trainee chef." 

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Among the others mentors are TV regular Rosemary Shrager, food writer Nisha Katona, This Morning guest chef Joseph Denison Carey and former Gordon Ramsay protege Mark Sargeant.

Emma Willis and Tom Allen were previously announced as hosts.

Cooking With The Stars is a partnership between Marks & Spencer, ITV and South Shore.