Restaurant critic Grace Dent has been confirmed to replace Gregg Wallace as a judge on the next series of Celebrity MasterChef. This news comes after Wallace stepped down in November, following allegations of misconduct throughout his 17 years on the show.
The author and podcaster has already played a strong role in MasterChef history, having appeared regularly as a guest judge, and even competing last year on MasterChef: Battle Of The Critics. She also hit our screens back in 2023 as a contestant on ITV’s ‘I’m a Celebrity,’ although she had to leave the show early due to medical reasons.
Following the recent announcement, Grace has 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.’
Dent will be joining long-standing judge John Torode for the 20th series of the show. Torode, who has been a judge on Celebrity MasterChef since it first debuted back in 2005, commented: ‘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.
‘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.’
Wallace announced his withdrawal from the Celebrity iteration of the show in November, stepping back whilst complaints of inappropriate sexual comments were investigated. Wallace denied the allegations, with his lawyers telling the BBC that ‘it is entirely false that he engages in behaviour of a sexually harassing nature.'
Following the news, however, the BBC decided to pull the MasterChef Celebrity Christmas special and Christmas Cook Off from its schedule, although the 17th series of MasterChef: The Professionals continued to air.
Whilst Dent is set to replace Wallace as a judge on Celebrity MasterChef, it is unknown who will be taking over in the amateur or professional versions of the show.
Whilst you wait for the next series to air, why not get caught up on everything that happened in series 19 of Celebrity MasterChef?