Grace Dent

Grace Georgina Dent (born 3 October 1973) is a British columnist, broadcaster and author. She is a restaurant critic for The Guardian and from 2011 to 2017 wrote a restaurant column for the Evening Standard. Since 2025, she has been the co-presenter of the BBC's MasterChef.

Dent has written 11 novels for teenagers, and her first non-fiction title How to Leave Twitter was published in July 2011.

Early life Dent was born in Aldershot, Hampshire but grew up in Carlisle, Cumbria. She attended Bishop Goodwin Primary School in Currock, Carlisle, Caldew School in Dalston, Cumbria and studied English Literature at the University of Stirling. While at university, she wrote features for Cosmopolitan after winning a place on their Student Advisory panel.

Journalism After graduation from Stirling University, Dent's first job was editorial assistant for Marie Claire magazine in London. In 2012, she signed a joint deal with The Independent and the London Evening Standard. She became the restaurant critic of The Guardian in January 2018. In November 2017, Dent won "Reviewer of the Year" at the London Restaurant Festival.

She has written about the death of her mother from cancer in 2021 and the death of her father from dementia in 2022, having cared for each during their illnesses.

She has been "mainly vegan" since the early 2010s, describing herself as plant-based or a flexitarian.

Published works Dent has written 11 novels, including: Her first, It's a Girl Thing, was published in 2003. She was shortlisted for the 2008 Queen of Teen Prize. Her first non-fiction title How to Leave Twitter (My Time as Queen of the Universe and Why This Must Stop) was published in July 2011. Les Bambinos Dangereuses: Her first trilogy of novels was for Puffin Books.

She was a judge on the 2011 Roald Dahl Funny Prize.

Television and radio Since 2025, Dent has co-presented and been one of the judges on MasterChef alongside Anna Haugh after they replaced Gregg Wallace and John Torode from the 22nd series.

Dent was previously a regular critic on MasterChef, Masterchef: The Professionals, and Celebrity Masterchef. She has also appeared as a judge on BBC Two's Great British Menu.

Since 2016, Dent has presented The Untold on BBC Radio 4.

Grace joined Ainsley Harriott for a five-part series on Channel 4 called Best of Britain by the Sea in 2022.

In 2023, she participated in the 23rd series of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!. On 27 November 2023, after 9 days in the jungle, Dent left the show on "medical grounds". She was placed 12th.

On 18 December 2024, it was announced she would be replacing Gregg Wallace as a judge on Celebrity Masterchef in 2025.