Grace Dent to judge next Celebrity MasterChef series amid Gregg Wallace review
Masterchef Will Judge Grace Picture: Dent Torode Shine Alongside Celebrity John Tv/bbc
Restaurant critic Grace Dent will judge the next series of Celebrity MasterChef alongside John Torode, it has been announced.
Dent, 51, will judge the upcoming 20th series of following news last month that Gregg Wallace will step away from the role amid an external review into historical allegations of misconduct.
Author and podcaster Dent has appeared regularly as a guest on , and last year was a contestant on .
She said: “I’ve been watching 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 .
“I can’t wait to meet the fresh celebrity faces for 2025.”
Torode, who has presented since 2005, said: “I have loved working with Grace on over the years. She has been an excellent guest, an inspiring critic and also set some incredible challenges.
“Expertise is what is all about, from the contestants to our wonderful production team, to us as judges.
“The love of food, the love of , and that unquestionable expertise, makes Grace the perfect person to step in alongside me as judge for the forthcoming Celebrity MasterChef series.”
Last year, Dent was part of the line-up for ITV’s , but left the show early for medical reasons. She writes a restaurant review column for The Guardian and hosts celebrity food podcast .
Her book was published last year, with her memoir Hungry published in 2020.
Kalpna Patel-Knight, BBC’s head of entertainment, said: “Grace Dent is the perfect choice to step in for the next series of .
“Grace is not only an energetic and well-established member of the team, but is also a world renowned food critic, so she will certainly keep the next batch of celebrities on their toes.”
The most recent series of continued to air amid a storm of allegations against Wallace, with two celebrity Christmas specials, a and a , pulled from the BBC’s festive schedule.
Wallace’s lawyers previously told the BBC “it is entirely false that he engages in behaviour of a sexually harassing nature”.