The Guardian’s restaurant critic Grace Dent will judge the next series of Celebrity MasterChef alongside John Torode, it has been announced.

Dent will judge the upcoming 20th series of the showafter the announcement in November that Gregg Wallace would step away from the role amid an external review into allegations of misconduct.

Author and podcaster Dent has appeared regularly as a guest on MasterChef, and last year was a contestant on MasterChef: Battle Of The Critics.

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, who has presented MasterChef since 2005, 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.”

Last year, Dent was part of the lineup for 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.

Her book Comfort Eating: What We Eat When Nobody’s Looking was published last year, with her memoir, Hungry, published in 2020.

Kalpna Patel-Knight, the BBC’s head of entertainment, said: “Grace Dent is the perfect choice to step in for the next series of Celebrity MasterChef.

“Grace is not only an energetic and well-established member of the MasterChef 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 MasterChef: The Professionals continued to air amid a storm of allegations against Wallace, with two MasterChef celebrity Christmas specials, a Celebrity MasterChef Christmas Cook Off and a Strictly Festive Extravaganza, 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”.

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