Grace Dent in a yellow outfit stood in front of the I'm A Celebrity logo
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I’m A Celebrity star Grace Dent brushes off past insults of the show: ‘Jokes – it’s what I do’

Eating her words may just be the best offer she gets in the jungle!

TV food critic and broadcaster Grace Dent is gearing up to enter I’m A Celebrity and has batted away past negative remarks against the ITV show.

Grace, a regular critic on BBC’s MasterChef, had previously brutally put down the celebrity reality show.  However, those comments from years ago came to haunt her again after her involvement in the upcoming series was announced.

One of the many known faces hoping to be crowned I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! 2023 champion, Grace once called the show “televised constipation”.

Her 2012 column for The Independent became a talking point again 11 years later after she said: “Let’s be frank, I’m A Celeb, love or hate it, is far from a deluxe viewing experience.”

Grace Dent talking to the camera about I'm A Celebrity
Grace Dent once called out the show in a column she wrote in 2012 (Credit: Youtube)

Grace Dent’s acerbic comments about I’m A Celebrity

As well as: “It is a puerile venture into starvation, televised constipation, and animal cruelty, abbreviated by ads for Iceland £1 curries.

“I snap my blinds firmly shut before settling down to watch I’m A Celeb, in fear that the theme tune alone devalues my property.”

Well, it appears that she is eating her own words by signing on as one of this year’s contestants.

She has now spoken out about those remarks after touching down in Australia.

Food critic Grace Dent talking on MasterChef just before sampling some food
Grace Dent is a regular food critic on MasterChef (Credit: YouTube)

Talking to The Sun, she commented: “I mean I’ve made jokes about everything because that’s what I do.

“Like Big Brother and soap, I always did that from the place of someone that really loved them, and really watched them.”

Grace continued: “I think the quote you’re talking about from 2011, was about a piece about how much I love the show, [IAC] right? Because my parents loved the show.

“Yeah. And they watched it, it was their favourite show ever.”

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Whether fans of the show forgive her will determine what type of cuisine she can chow down on.

Grace Dent’s food habits

Moving on, she discussed how well she has been dining lately in London in preparation for the lack of food options on the show.

Grace said: “I think it’s going to be a real challenge. For the last week I’ve been eating in the most wonderful restaurants in London, you know, five course dinners, all the wonderful foods that London offers.

“So, I think it’s maybe gonna be a bit of a shock to my system, but it’s gonna be okay. It’s okay, I eat well all the time – I could do with a change of diet.”

Read more: I’m A Celebrity faces boycott threats as Nigel Farage complaints land in their thousands

I’m A Celebrity 2023 starts on ITV on November 19.

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Jamie Body
Freelance Writer