I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here is back on ITV for another series with 10 new celebrities heading into camp to battle it out for the jungle crown.
Among this year's campmates is 50-year-old food critic and novelist Grace Dent. As well as writing restaurant reviews for The Guardian, Grace is a regular on TV screens.
The journalist has appeared as a critic and judge on Masterchef UK, Celebrity Masterchef and Great British Menu, as well as featuring in the series Very British Problems, Have I Got News For You and Charlie Brooker's Screen Wipe among others.
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Grace is the host the Guardian podcast Comfort Eating, which sees her chatting to famous guests about some of their favourite snacks, and has written several young adult novels, her first of which, It's a Girl Thing, was shortlisted for the 2008 Queen of Teen Prize. Her memoir Hungry, about how she went from growing up on 'beige' food to becoming a celebrated critic, won the Lakeland Book of the Year award in 2021.
Grace, who is based in London but originally from Carlisle in Cumbria, has previously said she eats a "mainly vegan" diet and admitted ahead of heading into the jungle that she is dreading the food on offer. "I am especially dreading being hungry because I tend to eat four or five posh meals out a week because I am a restaurant critic," Grace told ITV. "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!"
The critic said she had been eating far less than normal in preparation for jungle life and has tried to cut out caffeine too. Grace said she'd be happy to cook for her fellow campmates but is not looking forward to the lack of flavour available to spice up the traditional rice and beans.
"I am a practical cook but it is not cooking as we know it in the jungle," Grace said. "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."
Grace also revealed the family tragedy that has made her a stronger person ahead of the show. "I have been through a really difficult time over the last four or five years,” she said. “My dad had dementia, I cared for him and I lost him. Mum had cancer and I lost her. I think that this has made me very strong and resilient. 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 admitted she's more worried about the people than any of the critters she may face during her time down under. She said she's "quite good with rats" and "not scared of snakes" but told ITV: "My biggest phobia is really horrible people. I hope I can be somebody who people can talk to and I do hope I can stay out of any drama. I always think you don’t change people’s opinions by shouting. But what we have got is the time to really begin to understand why people believe the things they believe. This isn’t social media where you express it in a small number of characters."
Heading into the jungle alongside Grace will be actress and singer Jamie Lynn Spears, former Made In Chelsea star Sam Thompson, This Morning host Josie Gibson, First Dates star Fred Sirieix, YouTuber Nella Rose, former politician Nigel Farage, JLS member Marvin Humes, EastEnders star Danielle Harold and Hollyoaks icon Nick Pickard.
I'm A Celebrity starts Sunday 19th November, 9pm on ITV1 and ITVX
