Grace Dent has been introduced as Gregg Wallace’s successor on the BBC’s Celeb MasterChef after he stepped away from the present final month.
Lengthy-time MasterChef presenter Wallace is dealing with allegations of inappropriate behaviour from greater than a dozen folks throughout a variety of exhibits over a 17-year interval.
The BBC has now introduced restaurant critic Dent will be a part of common MasterChef presenter John Torode as a decide throughout subsequent 12 months’s twentieth season of the cooking competitors.
So who’s Grace Dent and what has her profession regarded like up till now?
Critic, writer and I am a Celeb star
51-year-old Dent is an award-winning journalist, columnist, writer and broadcaster, who has usually appeared on MasterChef as a visitor and final 12 months took half in MasterChef: Battle Of The Critics.
Picture:
Dent with fellow Celeb MasterChef host John Torode. Pic: BBC/Shine TV
Her journalistic profession started in 1996, when she was editorial assistant at way of life journal Marie Claire.
Her intention wasn’t to develop into a meals critic, she informed SheerLuxe in an interview, however somewhat a columnist.
However she quickly discovered her area of interest in meals, ultimately happening to get her personal column for the London Night Customary, referred to as Grace & Flavour, earlier than becoming a member of The Guardian as their meals critic in 2017.
Dent, identified for her outspoken and no-holds-barred strategy, constructed up her profession to develop into a multi-media foodie, publishing 12 books, showing on TV exhibits and producing and presenting documentaries for Sky Atlantic and Channel 4.
She additionally hosts her personal podcast, Consolation Consuming with Grace Dent, the place she chats with celebrities about meals.
Dent has develop into a really acquainted face on TV and a well-liked voice – a lot in order that she joined the I am A Celeb … Get Me Out Of Right here! forged final 12 months, earlier than leaving the ITV actuality present early on medical grounds.
‘Greater than a dream to me’
In a press release as she was introduced as Wallace’s alternative, Dent mentioned: “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 am so excited that I can not eat, which is severely detrimental to a restaurant critic. I really feel very fortunate to be stepping in for the subsequent Celeb MasterChef. I can not wait to satisfy the contemporary celeb faces for 2025.”
Her co-host Torode said: “I’ve cherished working with Grace on MasterChef over time. She has been a superb visitor, an inspiring critic and in addition set some unimaginable challenges. Experience is what MasterChef is all about, from the contestants to our fantastic manufacturing workforce, 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 government editor David Ambler additionally hailed Dent’s “expertise”, in addition to her “wit and finely-honed palette”.
Kalpna Patel-Knight, head of leisure on the BBC, added “energetic” Dent is the “perfect choice”.
