Grace Dent has been announced as Gregg Wallace’s successor on the BBC’s Celebrity MasterChef after he stepped away from the show last month.
Long-time MasterChef presenter Wallace is facing allegations of inappropriate behaviour from more than a dozen people across a range of shows over a 17-year period.
The BBC has now announced restaurant critic Dent will join regular MasterChef presenter John Torode as a judge during next year’s 20th season of the cooking competition.
So who is Grace Dent and what has her career looked like up until now?
Critic, author and I’m a Celeb star
51-year-old Dent is an award-winning journalist, columnist, author and broadcaster, who has regularly appeared on MasterChef as a guest and last year took part in MasterChef: Battle Of The Critics.
Her journalistic career began in 1996, when she was editorial assistant at lifestyle magazine Marie Claire.
Her intention wasn’t to become a food critic, she told SheerLuxe in an interview, but rather a columnist.
But she soon found her niche in food, eventually going on to get her own column for the London Evening Standard, called Grace & Flavour, before joining The Guardian as their food critic in 2017.
Dent, known for her outspoken and no-holds-barred approach, built up her career to become a multi-media foodie, publishing 12 books, appearing on TV shows and producing and presenting documentaries for Sky Atlantic and Channel 4.
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She also hosts her own podcast, Comfort Eating with Grace Dent, where she chats with celebrities about food.
Dent has become a very familiar face on TV and a popular voice – so much so that she joined the I’m A Celebrity … Get Me Out Of Here! cast last year, before leaving the ITV reality show early on medical grounds.
‘More than a dream to me’
In a statement as she was announced as Wallace’s replacement, Dent said: “I’ve been watching MasterChef since I was a girl sitting with my dad on the sofa. My whole family watches it. It’s all about uncovering and championing talent – and to have ended up in this position, is more than a dream to me.
“I’m so excited that I can’t eat, which is severely detrimental to a restaurant critic. I feel very lucky to be stepping in for the next Celebrity MasterChef. I can’t wait to meet the fresh celebrity faces for 2025.”
Her co-host Torode said: “I have loved working with Grace on MasterChef over the years. She has been an excellent guest, an inspiring critic and also set some incredible challenges. Expertise is what MasterChef is all about, from the contestants to our wonderful production team, to us as judges.
“The love of food, the love of MasterChef, and that unquestionable expertise, makes Grace the perfect person to step in alongside me as judge for the forthcoming Celebrity MasterChef series.”
MasterChef executive editor David Ambler also hailed Dent’s “expertise”, as well as her “wit and finely-honed palette”.
Kalpna Patel-Knight, head of entertainment at the BBC, added “energetic” Dent is the “perfect choice”.