Grace Dent shocked I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! fans on Monday, when she quit the ITV show.
The food critic, 50, had sparked concerns among viewers with her ‘unwell’ appearance, with a show spokesperson confirming on Monday that Grace left the jungle on ‘medical grounds.’
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.
A source close to the MasterChef star revealed: ‘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.’
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.’
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.’
MailOnline takes a look back on her short stint in the jungle.
Threw in the towel: Grace Dent shocked I’m A Celebrity … Get Me Out Of Here! fans on Monday, when she quit the ITV show
Dramatic change: The food critic, 50, had sparked concerns among viewers with her ‘unwell’ appearance, with a show spokesperson confirming on Monday that Grace left the jungle on ‘medical grounds’
Heading into the jungle
The first episode of I’m A Celebrity introduced Grace to viewers, with the food critic expressing her excitement to be heading Down Under, saying: ‘It’s going to be fun’.
She told viewers that her main aim of entering the show was to get ‘quite far’ and voiced her resolve not to be the first one out.
Grace said: ‘I am just determined to not go out first. And if I can get quite far, I would be really pleased…
‘I don’t want my life to be different when I finish this programme. I don’t want to change anything at all but this is such a great challenge. It’s going to be fun.’
The MasterChef star also said she would be ‘strong and resilient’ on the show, due to suffering a family tragedy.
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’ 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.’
Eager: The first episode of I’m A Celebrity introduced Grace to viewers, with the food critic expressing her excitement to be heading Down Under, saying: ‘It’s going to be fun’
Determined: She told viewers that her main aim of entering the show was to get ‘quite far’ and voiced her resolve not to be the first one out
Daddy’s girl: 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’ and confessed she believes her loss will make her stronger on the show (pictured with her father)
Fears about food
Ahead of joining camp, Grace did voice some concerns about the prospect of eating in the jungle.
She admitted even a professional like herself would struggle with a lack of herbs and spices to season food.
She said: ‘Everything is filling me with a real sense of dread. But I am especially dreading being really hungry because I tend to eat four or five posh meals out a week because I am a restaurant critic.’
She confessed she knows what bosses will have in store: ‘I know they are going to give me an eating trial and I am dreading putting even worse things in my mouth than I have in the past in fancy restaurants!..
‘I think I will be writing very stiff columns about the jungle food when I come out! Will I cook there? Yes, I am a practical cook but it is not cooking as we know it in the jungle…
‘What makes food is herbs and spices and I am not going to have any ingredients. I don’t know how you are going to make an alligator’s foot taste delicious if there are no spices…
‘I can already imagine the dinner I am going to have the moment I get out. I am going to go to a really fancy restaurant and have something delicious, wearing a lovely dress.’
Despite being a food critic, Grace announced in 2018 in her Guardian column that she lives by a mostly vegan diet, describing herself as a ‘flexitarian’.
She wrote: ‘In my game, as a restaurant critic, it would be more acceptable to come clean as a roaring alcoholic, a snob or a tax evader than reveal my actual clandestine secret. But here goes: my name is Grace Dent and I eat mainly vegan.’
Grace has previously spoken about her strict diet, admitting she ‘has to monitor every day how much food I have to eat for work, how many restaurants I have to go to, just trying to keep a balanced diet.’
Speaking to WalesOnline weeks before she entered the jungle Grace admitted ‘I don’t think I suit skinny. I look ill right away. I’m quite a curvy, busty type of person.’
‘But I know that when I get bigger, I then stop exercising. Once I stop exercising, I start feeling sadder. And then my health goes and I haven’t got enough energy.
‘I have to be very careful about what I eat because I put on weight really easily. My family are just those types of people who come from an entire background of women who naturally fit about a size 16-18. Every woman in my family looked like that.’
‘So, I’ve always been on a health kick since I was nine years old, like almost all women. I have to be very conscious of what I’m eating.’
Worried: Ahead of joining camp, Grace did voice some concerns about the prospect of eating in the jungle and admitted she would struggle with a lack of herbs and spices to season food (pictured on Masterchef this month)
Strict diet: Speaking to WalesOnline weeks before she entered the jungle Grace admitted ‘I don’t think I suit skinny. I look ill right away. I’m quite a curvy, busty type of person’
First trial
Despite her fears about food, Grace impressed viewers in her first trial, Pole Position, which was filmed last Friday and aired on Sunday’s launch show.
She was joined by fellow campmates Sam Thompson, Danielle Harold and Fred Sirieix as they were dangled from a sky scraper 100M in the air.
The foursome had face down their fears to edge forward on a pole hanging off the building to reach a star at the end.
Fan marvelled at Grace’s cool and calm composure throughout the challenge, with the star giving support to a terrified Sam.
Before being lowered onto the pole, she said: ‘The only way I’m going to stay in this game is just not to think about things too deeply’.
During the task she repeatedly calmed down Sam, encouraging: ‘Come on Sam, we can do it!’
She also had viewers laughing by her witty comments to hosts Ant and Dec, saying: ‘It’s lovely to see in the flesh how much pleasure you take in pain’.
Great start: Despite her fears about food, Grace impressed viewers in her first trial, Pole Position, which was filmed last Friday and aired on Sunday’s launch show
Cool as a cucumber: Fan marvelled at Grace’s cool and calm composure throughout the challenge, with the star giving support to a terrified Sam Thompson
Settling into camp
The first few days of camp life saw the celebrities getting to know each other and their new home.
While there were several clashes from the oft, Grace managed to stay under the radar and seemed to be getting along with everyone.
Viewers noticed her ‘secret tactic’ for avoiding the erupting rows in order to avoid the growing drama.
She appeared to be making a conscious effort to remove herself from fraught situations, and bit her tongue rather than get involved in the debates.
The second day of the show saw Grace excuse herself while Fred Sirieix began a discussion with former UKIP leader Nigel Farage over Brexit.
The star got up and walked away claiming she was going off to do the washing up and then steered clear once again during Nella Rose’s angry outburst towards Fred over ‘dadgate’.
On viewer pointed out: ‘Grace does a runner’ with another echoing: ‘Every time it’s gets a bit awkward in camp grace does a runner’.
Sharing a GIF of the grandfather from The Simpsons entering a room and walking away, one Twitter user likened Grace to the character, writing: ‘Grace Dent whenever someone talks to Farage about his politics #ImACeleb’.
Going well: While there were several clashes from the oft, Grace managed to stay under the radar and seemed to be getting along with everyone in the first few days
Staying out of the way: She appeared to be making a conscious effort to remove herself from fraught situations, and bit her tongue rather than get involved in the debates
Avoiding: The second day of the show saw Grace excuse herself while Fred Sirieix began a discussion with former UKIP leader Nigel Farage over Brexit and then steered clear once again during Nella Rose’s angry outburst towards Fred over ‘dadgate’
Pointing out: Viewers noticed her ‘secret tactic’ for avoiding the erupting rows in order to avoid the growing drama
Locker Shocker trial
Grace’s attitude towards the trials changed drastically on Thursday, with her showing much more apathy than previously in the week.
Viewers were left less than impressed by her efforts in the first group trial as they claimed she ‘couldn’t give a f***’ about the challenge.
The starving campmates were battling it out through a series of gruesome challenges in the newly unveiled ‘Scarena’ to win a lavish breakfast.
The first element, dubbed the Locker Shocker, saw the celebrities shut inside a locker and each campmate had to unlock five stars after finding the correct hidden keys.
Grace appeared unenthusiastic and listless as she moaned she couldn’t find the keys needed to open her locker.
After watching Grace’s efforts, viewers complained that she was being ‘boring’ because she didn’t even try to make an effort.
Others speculated that she may have been doing it on purpose in order to secure the next Bushtucker Trial, by pretending she couldn’t be bothered.
Sharing their thoughts on X – formerly known as Twitter – one person said: ‘Grace couldn’t give two f***s tbh #ImACeleb.’
A second agreed, and said: ‘Grace doesn’t give a f***’
Another person said: ‘Meanwhile… Grace may as well not be there.’
One other said: ‘Grace is so unbothered [crying laughing face] is she even trying or just there for the fun.’
Others commented on Grace’s speed, claiming that she was ‘extra slow’ and also that she ‘looked like she was on sedatives’ due to the slo-mo.
A different person, said: ‘Grace literally could not care less about this trial. Did she expect Ant & Dec to give her replacement keys???’
One other said: ‘Grace has not one ounce of urgency in her.’
Another person said it was ‘annoying’ that Grace wasn’t taking it seriously, while a different viewer claimed that she was making it ‘boring’.
Meanwhile, some did find Grace’s antics funny, as they claimed they were ‘obsessed’ with her and branded her an ‘icon’.
Fed up: Grace’s attitude towards the trials changed drastically on Thursday, with her showing much more apathy than previously in the week
Unimpressed: During the trial, which was dubbed the Locker Shocker, Grace appeared unenthusiastic as she moaned she couldn’t find the keys needed to open her locker
‘Boring’: Viewers were left less than impressed by her efforts in the first group trial as they claimed she ‘couldn’t give a f***’ about the challenge or doing it on purpose in order to secure the next Bushtucker Trial
Touchdown of Terror trial
After facing backlash from viewers over her lack of effort in the last trial, the public chose Grace to take on the next challenge, alongside Nella.
The two women went head to head to take on the Touchdown of Terror – and it was up to their coaches to choose who would help them get through the gruelling task.
Frankie chose Sam as Nella’s support, while Tony gave Grace the chance to choose her own partner, but the columnist declined.
In an attempt of helping her fellow campmate, This Morning star Josie Gibson said: ‘You can choose me, but I’m a bit of a scaredy cat.’
But former politician Nigel Farage volunteered in her place, saying: ‘I’m perfectly happy to do it.’
Despite this, Grace was visibly unmotivated to take on the challenge and confessed she had ‘had enough’ and wanted to ‘go home’.
She pulled Josie to one side and admitted: ‘I’ve had enough. I’ve completely had enough. I just want to go home.’
Her teammate tried to comfort her and replied: ‘It’ll be good for you. What an experience.’
But in the Bush Telegraph, Grace candidly went on: ‘I haven’t got a lot left in me at the moment. I’m just keeping on a face for everybody.’
Nella ended up succumbing the pressure first as critters were poured into her helmet – prompting the YouTuber to pull her emergency cord to end her time on the trial.
But Grace ended up not much better, as she got a bug stuck inside her ear, yelling: ‘There’s one in my ear! There’s one in my ear! That’s not nice, I can hear it.’
Following the challenge, she was seen by the medic who managed to flush it out, and confirmed it has been removed.
Up again: After facing backlash from viewers over her lack of effort in the last trial, the public chose Grace to take on the next challenge, Touchdown of Terror, alongside Nella
Giving up: Grace was visibly unmotivated to take on the challenge and confessed she had ‘had enough’ and wanted to ‘go home’
Can’t go on: In the Bush Telegraph, Grace candidly went on: ‘I haven’t got a lot left in me at the moment. I’m just keeping on a face for everybody’
Unpleasant: During the challenge Grace got a bug stuck inside her ear, yelling: ‘There’s one in my ear! There’s one in my ear! That’s not nice, I can hear it’ which a medic had to get out
Concerning appearance
Following a week in the jungle and the change in Grace’s appearance and increasing listless demeanor began sparking concern from fans.
Viewers voiced their worries after she appeared much more pale and gaunt compared to her usual bubbly and glam self, shown in the launch episode.
‘F*** me Grace Dent looks ill’ one wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
While a second echoed: ‘I didn’t even recognise Grace Dent omg is she ok? She looks ….so different’.
A third asked: ‘Is Grace okay?? Sis isn’t even doing any trials and looks like she’s struggling’.
While another commented: ‘Is Grace Dent ok? She doesn’t look alive to me…’
A fifth said: ‘She looks really ill doesn’t she!’ with a sixth agreed writing: ‘Yes scarily unwell!’
Concerning: Following a week in the jungle and the change in Grace’s appearance and increasing listless demeanor began sparking concern from fans
Concern: Fans claimed they didn’t even recognise the usual bubbly and glam MasterChef star (pictured left on Friday’s show and right on MasterChef in 2021)
Worry: Viewers voiced their worries after she appeared much more pale and gaunt compared to her usual bubbly and glam self, shown in the launch episode
Last day
Grace was sending signals that she was ready to throw in the towel on her last day in camp on Sunday.
She and Josie were chosen by the public to take part in Monday night’s trial, Down The Tubes.
The challenge sees two celebrities hoisted up in the air in transparent boxes whilst throwing balls around as they face a variety of critters.
As Grace’s name was read out, she appeared impassive and had no reaction when her fellow campmates gathered around her in support.
Hosts Ant and Dec even noticed her unhappiness and pointed out her reaction to her name being called.
Speaking on an Instagram Live following last night’s show, the Geordie duo commented: ‘Grace was not happy was she?’
They added that the food critic had a face like thunder when the results were read out and suggested that Grace had been miserable throughout her time in camp.
They said: ‘Grace said nothing and Josie said, “Who me?” Grace was not happy was she? When is she? That’s what I’m throwing out there.’
Addressing the viewers, they added: ‘Find the footage of her being happy during this and then play it back to us.’
After Grace’s exit was announced, former campmate Jake Quickenden said he believed she had struggled from the start with the big personalities, poor weather and being voted by the public for trials.
Appearing on Monday’s episode of Lorraine, he theorised: ‘I think she really struggled from day one.
‘She was surrounded by big characters, maybe she wasn’t expecting that. It is very daunting and overwhelming.
‘It’s been raining a lot there. She would have had support from campmates and would have been called into the Bushtucker Telegraph to make sure you’re okay. So they check in on you.
‘Maybe she got overwhelmed with it all. Maybe getting voted, maybe she thinks oh I’m not liked.’
Ready to go: Grace was sending signals that she was ready to throw in the towel on her last day in camp on Sunday after she and Josie were chosen by the public to take part in Monday night’s trial, Down The Tubes
Had enough: As Grace’s name was read out, she appeared impassive and had no reaction when her fellow campmates gathered around her in support
Prediction: Hosts Ant and Dec even noticed her unhappiness and pointed out her reaction to her name being called before suggesting Grace had been miserable throughout her time in camp