Grace Dent to replace Gregg Wallace on next series of Celebrity MasterChef
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Guardian restaurant critic will be judge on show after Wallace stepped away from role amid claims of misconduct. As the Guardian’s restaurant critic she has spent an “excessive amount of time in posh restaurants, eating fancy, ornate tasting menus”, but Grace Dent’s new challenge will see her tasting the delights of minor stars in front of rolling cameras as the new judge of Celebrity MasterChef.
Dent, who also hosts the Guardian’s Comfort Eating podcast, will replace Gregg Wallace alongside John Torode, the BBC confirmed on Wednesday. Wallace stepped down from the series at the end of November while its production company, Banijay UK, investigates claims of misconduct, which he denies.
Dent, who has appeared regularly as a guest on MasterChef, will judge the 20th series of the show, and said the step up to main judge was a dream come true. “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,” she said. “I can’t wait to meet the fresh celebrity faces for 2025.”.
Dent, who published Comfort Eating: What We Eat When Nobody’s Looking last year after the publication of her memoir, Hungry, in 2020, added that she had been watching the show since she was a girl, sitting on a sofa with her dad. “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,” she said.
The news comes after a tumultuous period for one of the BBC’s flagship shows. The BBC pulled two MasterChef celebrity Christmas specials, a Celebrity MasterChef Christmas Cook Off and a Strictly Festive Extravaganza from its schedule, but the recent series of MasterChef: The Professionals continued to air amid a storm of allegations against Wallace.
