Grace Dent is to be a judge for the next series of Celebrity MasterChef alongside John Torode on BBC One…
Award-winning restaurant critic, Grace, has been a regular guest on MasterChef for over a decade, as well as competing as a contestant on last year’s MasterChef: Battle of the Critics 2023. She joins the show following the stepping back of Gregg Wallace after allegations of inapt behaviour had been reported going back several years. Wallace is just the latest in a number of controversies for the Beeb in the past decade over the actions of its stars.
Grace Dent is a best-selling author and chart-topping podcaster, with a career in journalism spanning the past 15 years, as well as regularly appearing in food-centred TV and radio shows over the past decade.
Grace Dent:
“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.”
Grace writes an award-winning restaurant review column for The Guardian and has hosted nine seasons of celebrity food podcast Comfort Eating. She previously wrote about food for the Evening Standard and is a best-selling author of over 20 books – including her memoir, Hungry, Comfort Eating and the ‘Diary Of’ series. Grace has also fronted a range of programmes across TV and radio – from hosting on BBC Radio 2 on Christmas Day and throughout the Christmas period, to presenting BBC Radio 4 series The Untold and BBC Four’s What We Were Watching.
John Torode:
“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.”
