Grace Dent ‘is absolutely the right choice’ to replace Gregg Wallace on Masterchef: ‘She will save the show!”

Restaurant critic Grace Dent has been announced as the new judge for Celebrity MasterChef 2025, with media expert Lebby Eyres hailing her as “absolutely the right person for the right job”.

The award-winning journalist and author will join John Torode for the show’s 20th series, following Gregg Wallace’s departure.

Former magazine editor Lebby Eyres told GB News: “Grace is a is a journalist really by trade, she’s done her time. She started on women’s mags just like me.

“Then she worked at the Guardian and she was a TV critic. She’s got a very spiky sense of humour, she is a restaurant critic. She knows her staff. She’s absolutely the right person for the right job.”

She added: “I think that the thing that was odd about the whole scandal with Gregg Wallace really was why they kept hold of him for such a long time anyway.

“I mean, in my opinion, he can be a little bit grating on viewers and it was time for a change. The format has been going a long time. It’s good to mix things up.

“I think that there may be a little caveat with Grace, she is a little bit spikier, perhaps, than Gregg. Gregg was a warm character on screen. Obviously, we know now what happened off-screen.”

“I think that viewers will warm to her. She’s made many guest appearances on MasterChef. So I think it will be enough to save the show.”

Dent has been a regular guest on MasterChef for over a decade and competed as a contestant on MasterChef: Battle of the Critics in 2023.

She writes an award-winning restaurant review column for The Guardian and hosts the celebrity food podcast Comfort Eating.

Speaking about her new role, Dent 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,” she added.

John Torode, who has presented MasterChef since 2005, expressed enthusiasm about working with Dent on the show.

“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,” he said.

The news comes after Gregg Wallace stepped away from Celebrity MasterChef last month amid an external review into historical allegations of misconduct.

Two MasterChef celebrity Christmas specials, a Celebrity MasterChef Christmas Cook Off and a Strictly Festive Extravaganza were pulled from the BBC’s festive schedule following the allegations.

Wallace’s legal representatives have responded to the claims, telling the BBC “it is entirely false that he engages in behaviour of a sexually harassing nature”.

The most recent series of MasterChef: The Professionals continued to air despite the controversy surrounding Wallace’s departure.