Two Kent celebrities will be among those learning the ropes in the kitchen on the second season of ITV's Cooking with the Stars.

Olympic icon Kelly Holmes, from Pembury, and Medway TV expert Dr Ranj Singh are among eight celebrity contestants who will be pipped against one another in a number of cooking challenges.

Partnered with Marks and Spencer, the show pairs the celebrities with professional chefs to produce delicious dishes that will be judged by the remaining professionals.

The bottom two will then have to fight for their place in the competition, creating a dish without any help from their mentor.

The result of this eliminator will be decided by a blind tasting judgement from the professional chefs.

Unaware of whose food they are tasting, their greatest supporter could swiftly and unwittingly become their worst critic and vote for their protege to leave the competition.

The celebrity contestants joining Dame Holmes and Dr Singh are professional dancer and TV personality Anton Du Beke, This Morning’s Josie Gibson, Chaser Anne Hegerty, Love Island’s Maura Higgins, comedian Joe Wilkinson and DJ Woody Cook. They will join hosts Emma Willis and Tom Allen.

Caroline Davies, Director of Programmes at South Shore said: “We’re thrilled that Cooking With The Stars is heading back into the kitchen for a second series.

"Our stellar Chef and Celebrity line up promises to deliver some must-see pairings and with Emma and Tom once again overseeing the cooking battles we can’t wait to see which of them rise to the occasion; and which crash out first.”

“We really hope that the new series will help inspire people to try the recipes at home and get excited about cooking from scratch with all the products, tastes and flavours available in our food hall.”

Sharry Cramond, marketing director for M&S Food said: “We’re so excited to be bringing Cooking with the Stars back onto our TV screens after a successful first series. The line-up of chefs and stars look fantastic and hopefully will inspire all ages to get cooking."

The six-part cooking competition will transmit later this summer on ITV and ITV Hub.