Gregg Wallace: Grace Dent confirmed as MasterChef judge's replacement amid scandal

Award-winning restaurant critic Dent is familiar to viewers of the cookery programme as she 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.

Dent is also 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.

As she prepares to judge the upcoming 20th series of Celebrity MasterChef with Torode, she said: “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.”

Torode said: “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.”

The news comes as previous host Gregg Wallace found himself at the centre of the scandal amid claims that he had acted unprofessionally while on set, including making “lewd” comments in front of female contestants and crew members. BBC News reported that at least 13 people had complained about his behaviour including Newsnight presenter Kirsty Wark, who appeared on Celebrity MasterChef in 2011.

Wallace’s lawyers have denied all allegations. The TV presenter also took to social media with a response video, in which he said that the complaints about his behaviour had been made by “middle-class women of a certain age”. He later apologised for his comments.

MasterChef Executive Editor, David Ambler, says: “Grace’s expertise, wit and finely honed palette will be great asset to the judging lineup and the celebrities will need to be sitting up straight for this series. We’re looking forward to welcoming Grace back in 2025 as we uncover a new Celebrity MasterChef champion.”

Dent 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.