Verushka Singh, the chemical engineer who made history in November 2025 as the first Indian South African woman crowned Mrs South Africa, is stepping back into the public eye on Celebrity Come Dine With Me South Africa, which premieres on November 18, 2026 on BBC Lifestyle, DStv channel 174.
According to IOL, the former titleholder, who stepped down four months after her crowning to focus on her family, says the dinner-party competition pushed her far outside her comfort zone, and that is precisely why she said yes.
From pageant stage to dinner table
Singh's story matters beyond the glamour. Before the crown, she had already built a career as a chemical engineer and climate change consultant, fields where black and Indian South African women remain underrepresented. Her crowning was a milestone for a community whose visibility in mainstream South African pageantry has been hard won.
Her decision to step down in early 2026, just months into her reign, signalled something her audience rarely hears from public figures: that family and private life can outrank titles and professional ambition. She has never framed that choice as a retreat.
Why she joined Come Dine With Me
The show was already a favourite long before she joined the cast. Singh told IOL she used to watch it while travelling, in hotel rooms far from home, and found comfort in it.
“I absolutely, firstly, love the show. Like, one of my favourite shows,” she said.
Taking part, she explained, was a way to test herself.
“I just like to also push myself a little bit and try and test different things. And I knew this was way out of my comfort zone,” she said.
She arrived with a beauty-queen mindset, complete with glamorous designer outfits, and quickly learned the cameras reward something else entirely. As she put it, you cannot take yourself too seriously to be on the show.
Food, flavour and the politics of the table
Singh's approach to food reflects the same groundedness. She loves bold flavours, chilli above all, and Thai and other Asian cuisines, while working to make family meals healthier without losing taste. Her favourite dish is crab curry, chosen as much for the hands-on pleasure of eating it as for its spice.
“I think cooking is such a calming experience. You know, you get to just wind down and cook a good meal and put the flavours that you like into it,” she said.
Cooking at home, she acknowledged, is a different matter from cooking while cameras roll and strangers judge. But her hosting philosophy is generous rather than competitive, even though she admits she likes to win.
“I like people to feel at home. I like them to feel comfortable,” she said.
She also had a word for guests everywhere: give the host some grace. Overly picky guests who judge every detail, she believes, can drain the joy out of a gathering. The point of sitting at a table together is conversation, food and company, not perfection.
Learning to let people in
Perhaps the most striking part of IOL's interview is Singh's honesty about vulnerability. She describes herself as someone who has always guarded her privacy, and public life has forced her to open up.
“It's actually okay to let people in and get to know people because if you don't do that, you are missing out,” she told IOL.
She says the experience deepened her appreciation for the different personalities of people across South Africa. Away from the cameras, her family, particularly her son, keeps her grounded. Motherhood, she said, is a reminder that public recognition is only one part of a full life.
She also carries a conviction that talents are gifts to be used in service of others, not ladders to lift oneself above them. Success, in her view, comes with a responsibility to recognise that everyone has something valuable to contribute. It is a quiet rebuke to a celebrity culture built on self-promotion, and it comes from a woman who has every platform to promote herself.
What viewers can expect
Celebrity Come Dine With Me South Africa premieres on November 18, 2026 on BBC Lifestyle, DStv channel 174. Singh hopes viewers will take away her own hard-won lesson: do not take life, or yourself, too seriously. Sometimes the most memorable moments are the ones that do not go according to plan.
For a country still learning to celebrate the full breadth of its people, a chemical engineer, climate consultant and history-making former Mrs South Africa serving crab curry on national television is a small but real kind of representation.
FAQ
When does Celebrity Come Dine With Me South Africa premiere?
The show premieres on November 18, 2026 on BBC Lifestyle, DStv channel 174.
Who is Verushka Singh?
She is a chemical engineer and climate change consultant who became the first Indian South African woman crowned Mrs South Africa in November 2025, then stepped down four months later to focus on her family.
What is Verushka Singh's favourite dish?
Crab curry, which she loves for its spiciness and the hands-on experience of eating it.