THE new series of Celebrity Masterchef starts tonight on BBC 1 with all the usual drama and tantrums – and that’s only the judges!

John Torode and Gregg Wallace will be looking after 20 famous faces parading their cookery skills including comedian Vic Reeves, French tennis ace Henri Leconte, snooker star Stephen Hendry and presenter Julia Somerville.

It’s really quite amazing how talented some of these celebs are when it comes to knocking up a light-as-air soufflé or a cordon bleu dish from a list of ingredients. They must spend hours practising.

I shouldn’t be so slighting about these skills, though, as cooking is a great relaxation and one favoured by creative people. Still, with such an international cast, perhaps we should also be looking to solve world problems around the cooker rather than the boardroom.

I bet Angela Merkel is a dab hand with the sauerkraut and Emmanuel Macron is a whizz with the bouillabaisse. They could tackle world trade and what to do about Donald in relaxing foodie surroundings.