Zandra Rhodes: Who is Zandra Rhodes from Celebrity MasterChef 2019?

Celebrity MasterChef 2019 kicks off this evening (Monday, September 2) with the first five contestants taking to the kitchen. Dame Zandra Rhodes is one of the line-up of chefs tonight on the BBC series. Rhodes has also recently spoken on what it was like to star on the show.

Who is Zandra Rhodes?

Zandra Rhodes, 78, is heading into the Celebrity MasterChef kitchen after many years as a fashion designer.

Speaking to The Mirror of her time of the show, she said: “I used to think I could cook before Celebrity MasterChef.

“I regularly cook for 10 or 12 people here. Friends like Lulu, Britt Ekland, film director John Waters.”

She said of these celebrity dinner parties: “They all seem to like my cooking. Well, they eat it!”

READ MORE: No Strictly Come Dancing for Zandra Rhodes

Talking of her fellow contestants, she made a surprising bond with a fellow celebrity.

However, she also confessed that before they started filming she had no idea who any of them were.

“I like Joey Essex very much,” she said, “he has a wonderful confidence about him and is very open and funny.

“But meeting footballer Neil Ruddock made me realise just how old I am.

READ MORE: Zandra Rhodes thinks I’m A Celeb jungle would help her diet

“He’s 51 – but I actually went to the World Cup in 1966 – and Neil wasn’t even born!”

Rhodes has been working in fashion since the mid-’60s when she opened her first boutique on London’s Fulham Road.

Since then, she is equally known for two things, the first of which is her clothes – they usually combine flowing fabrics with bold colours and patterns.

The second of these is her personal style, which includes brightly coloured make-up and a signature pink bob.

READ MORE: Life Choices: Zandra Rhodes

Among the many accolades Rhodes has had in her five decades in fashion include a position in the Fashion Awards Hall of Fame and a Damehood, which she received in 2015.

Her clothes have also been loved by many high-profile clients, including Princess Diana, Elizabeth Taylor and the band Queen, who she designed costumes for.

She is also the founder of London’s Fashion and Textiles Museum.

For the last 25 years, she was in a relationship with American film producer Salah Hassanein, who died this year at the age of 98.

Celebrity MasterChef starts tonight at 9pm on BBC One

source: express.co.uk