Celebrity MasterChef: Cheryl Hole on why LGBTQ+ representation is important

Drag artist Cheryl Hole said LGBTQ+ representation on shows like Celebrity MasterChef is important with "the community under attack".

She appears in the penultimate week of heats of the celebrity cooking show.

Cheryl, who rose to fame on RuPaul's Drag Race UK, pointed to a homophobic stabbing in Clapham on Sunday and bans on drag performers in parts of the USA.

Being on the show is a way to "have our voices and stories heard and show we're nothing to be feared," she said.

She said: "I mean we're in a day and age where I feel like the movement is going a bit backwards, there's more hate crimes.

"We've just had an attack on LGBTQ+ community in Clapham the other day. I don't understand what's happening in the world and to have representation for our community, to have voices and stories heard, shows we are nothing to be feared.

"We're light, laughter and entertainment. We're just here for a good time and to make sure everyone is looked after."

Cheryl says she was definitely no "Michelin starred chef before entering the kitchen"

The banning of drag acts in some American states was especially concerning, she added.

She said: "We're just individuals wanting to live our lives and doing no harm and causing no grievances to anybody, so I don't understand why people take such an issue to us as a community."

Doing a show like Celebrity MasterChef was a chance to let people "have a laugh and just forget".

In the penultimate week of heats Cheryl competes with (l-r) Jamelia, Wynne Evans, Locksmith and Sam Fox

Cheryl said being on the show was also a way to "challenge" herself, admitting she was "no Michelin starred chef before entering that kitchen".

She said: "My husband is the cook in our family... So I really wanted to see how far I could go with this."

"Because us as drag artists we're creative individuals, transferring the skills I put into my face and on stage into plates of food was something I really wanted to see what I could come up with," she added.

Cheryl shot into the public eye when she joined the queens in season one of Drag Race UK

Cheryl has promised to "bring the glamour" to the kitchen but has also been "cooking my little Essex bum off" in preparation.

She added like every Essex girl she is a lover of a chippy at the end of a night out and always had a hankering for a battered sausage or saveloy.

There are no spoilers about just how far Cheryl will go in the competition but next up is a return to the West End with her show Gals Aloud in September.

Celebrity MasterChef airs on Wednesday 16 August at 21:00 BST on BBC One.