HAVING seen the success of The Great British Bake Off and any one of the hundreds of cookery shows on the BBC, clearly ITV want in on the action.
I’m told that bosses have commissioned a star-studded new show called Cooking With The Stars, which is being described by insiders as the “Strictly Come Dancing of food shows”.
The new series, which is being planned for late summer or early autumn this year, would see celebrities paired up with a professional chef to learn the ropes.
It’s being made by South Shore, the production firm behind one of the channel’s recent ambitious new shows Don’t Rock The Boat which saw celebs row the length of Britain.
A source said: “ITV has left alone cookery programmes in primetime until this point.
“But they’ve seen the success Bake Off has had on Channel 4 and the BBC before that, and also of Mary Berry’s Best Home Cook on the Beeb and think there’s something they can put together.
“Cookery programmes are a staple of television planning but ITV want to give it a glitzy, shiny floor twist.
“Celebrity participants will be paired up with the best of the culinary world in pairs, like Strictly, and they will fight it out for the crown.”
The new programme will help out with a scheduling issue for ITV bosses too, who are left without X Factor this year, and are still yet to work out when they’ll air Britain’s Got Talent.
If the show airs in the early autumn, it could occupy a key slot up against either the start of Strictly or Bake Off if it goes midweek.
The source added: “They are always looking for new formats at ITV and they think this will help ease the burden that no XF or BGT has had on the channel.
“They’re really hopeful it’ll become a hit and become a staple in the schedule not only this year but in the future too.”
