Who is Grace Dent? Everything you need to know about the food critic who battled family tragedies before sensationally quitting I’m A Celeb
It was revealed on Monday that I’m A Celebrity star Grace Dent quit the show after ‘losing all her energy’ in camp and reaching breaking point ahead of doing another Bushtucker Trial.
Filming for the ITV show began on Friday 17, with Grace exuding confidence and energy when she took on the Pole Position trial, which involved dangling herself off a 32-storey building.
Yet by last Sunday’s show Grace had become a shell of her former self, with fans voicing their concerns over her ‘scarily unwell’ appearance.
An insider has since revealed to MailOnline that the decision to leave was mutually decided between Grace and show bosses, who had intervened after seeing her visible deterioration in camp.
Prior to her jungle entrance, the food critic, 50, had revealed she would be ‘strong and resilient’ in camp due to her past tragedies.
Out: It was revealed on Monday that I’m A Celebrity star Grace Dent quit the show after ‘losing all her energy’ in camp and reaching breaking point ahead of doing another trial
Heartbreak: Ahead of entering the jungle, Grace shed light on her personal life, as she revealed she has lost both her parents over the past ‘four or five years’ (pictured with her mother)
Daddy’s girl: The star was a carer for her dementia-stricken father before he passed away while she later lost her mother to cancer within the short space of time (pictured with her father)
Grace shed light on her personal life, as she revealed she has lost both her parents over the past ‘four or five years’ and confessed she believes her loss will make her stronger on the show.
The star admitted she has ‘been through a really difficult time’ after she was a carer for her dementia-stricken father before he passed away while she later lost her mother to cancer within the short space of time.
She said: ‘This is going to be a big challenge and now I am older, life is for living and it’s one of the reasons why I said yes.’
Grace has spoken publicly about her parents and in in 2020, she wrote in The Guardian about her father’s battle with dementia, penning: ‘There is so much I want to say to Dad, but I can’t bring myself to…
‘Dementia is really awkward, not just painful and frightening, embarrassing, I don’t like to be left alone with Dad. But sometimes I can see terror in his eyes…
‘Sometimes, as Dad talks nowadays, midway through a nonsensical sentence his brain catches up, and right then, he understands the total ridiculousness of what he is saying, and pure shame passes across his face.’
Grace was born and raised by her parents in Carlisle and went on to pursue further education at Stirling University, bagging herself an English Literature degree in the process.
During her time at university, Grace kicked off her journalism career, writing features for Cosmopolitan, according to The Sun.
Speaking out: Prior to her jungle entrance, the food critic, 50, had revealed she would be ‘strong and resilient’ in camp due to her past tragedies
As seen on screen: Grace often appears on various TV shows critiquing people’s plates – you may have seen appear in MasterChef: The Professionals (pictured with Tom Parker Bowles and Tracey MacLeod)
After leaving full-time education, she had quite the illustrious writing career, working as an editorial assistant for Vogue, and then a freelance journalist for various magazines such as Marie Claire, Glamour and more.
She also spent 12 years, from 2000 until 2012 writing about all things TV, before making her way to The Independent.
READ MORE: The REAL reason Grace Dent QUIT I’m A Celeb
For six years she wrote a restaurant column dubbed ‘Grace and Flavour’, for The Evening Standard.
The food critic is currently employed by The Guardian.
Grace often appears on various TV shows critiquing people’s plates – you may have seen appear in MasterChef: The Professionals, Celebrity MasterChef, MasterChef UK.
She was also a judge on a BBC program called the Great British Menu.
But you won’t only find Grace in the kitchen, she has also appeared on an array of shows including, The Apprentice: You’re Fired, The Now Show on Radio 4, Have I Got News For You, Very British Problems.
The food critic has also appeared on Pointless Celebrities, The Review Show Film 2012, Charlie Brooker’s Screenwipe, The Culture Show and Alan Davies: As Yet Untitled.
Foodie Grace has also penned numerous novels over the years, and was even on the shortlist for the Queen of Teen prize in 2008.
Amongst her books series’ for teenage audiences include Diary of a Snob, Diary of a Chav and LBD.
She published her first non-fiction novel named How To Leave Twitter (My Time as Queen of the Universe and Why This Must Stop) in 2011.
Grace had previously vowed never to take part in I’m A Celeb, describing the show as ‘a puerile venture into starvation, televised constipation and animal cruelty, abbreviated by ads for Iceland £1 curries.’
Yet she had a change of heart this year and joined the series before her untimely departure this week.
A source close to the MasterChef star told MailOnline: ‘Grace decided to leave the jungle soon after it was announced that she would be doing the latest Bushtucker Trial.
‘Knowing that she would be facing another tough challenge was the straw that broke the camel’s back.’
Accomplished: The food critic has had an impressive career, working for an array of titles including, Vogue, The Independent, Cosmopolitan and more (pictured in 2017)
They continued: ‘It was mutually agreed upon that she would stand down from the competition, it was clear that she wasn’t being herself, she had lost all energy when usually she’s witty and fun to be around.
‘ITV’s duty of care and welfare teams had stepped in, and rightly so.
‘She had struggled since living in the camp with less amenities, the weather this year has been particularly miserable and as a restaurant critic, not eating well proved to be harder than she could have ever imagined.
‘Grace is looking forward to seeing her loved ones now and after a few days of rest and recovery will be fine.’
Grace has struggled since kicking off her journey filming the Pole Position trial on Friday, November 24 and last week threatened to quit the show.
ITV confirmed her departure on Saturday with a statement that read: ‘Unfortunately Grace Dent has left the show on medical grounds. She has been a great campmate and will be missed by her fellow celebrities and viewers alike.’
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