Grace Dent says becoming a Celebrity MasterChef judge is a ‘dream come true’

Food critic Grace Dent has said becoming a judge on Celebrity MasterChef is a “dream come true” after Gregg Wallace stepped away from the show amid an external review.

The 51-year-old author and podcaster, who has appeared regularly as a guest on MasterChef, will judge the forthcoming 20th series of the celebrity edition alongside John Torode.

A host of complaints have been made against Wallace after it was announced in November that historical misconduct complaints are being externally reviewed by the show’s production company, Banijay UK.

Speaking on ITV’s This Morning about her new role, Dent said: “I am absolutely over the moon. Honestly, I’m already drunk on power.”

The critic said she may have had some worries about it for “10 seconds” but they have gone now she has taken over the reins.

“It’s one of the most wonderful shows on British TV and, when you go out into the public, you feel that warmth,” she said.

“You can’t eat anywhere in privacy ever again. You can’t even go into a supermarket without people looking in your trolley (saying) ‘I can’t believe she’s bought that’.

“So it is lovely. It was a dream come true to move to this role, and it’s a very different role, because now I’ve got a lot.”

In her previous role on the show, she would offer her opinion on the contestants’ cooking but would not have to send them home.

“Now I am that person. Now I am the baddie, and I don’t enjoy doing that,” she said.

“I think that people think that I go out for dinner and want it to be bad so that I can write horrible things. I absolutely don’t.

“I want the best for these people, and sending people home is horrible.”

Dent has experienced being in the contestants’ shoes as she took part in MasterChef: Battle Of The Critics in 2023.

The same year she competed on ITV’s I’m A Celebrity … Get Me Out Of Here!, but left the show early for medical reasons.

She writes a restaurant review column for The Guardian and hosts celebrity food podcast Comfort Eating.

The most recent series of MasterChef: The Professionals continued to air amid a storm of allegations against Wallace, but two MasterChef celebrity Christmas specials – a Celebrity MasterChef Christmas Cook Off and a Strictly Festive Extravaganza – were pulled from the BBC’s schedule in December.

Wallace’s lawyers previously told the BBC “it is entirely false that he engages in behaviour of a sexually harassing nature”.