Gregg Wallace’s ‘Celebrity MasterChef’ Replacement Named as Restaurant Critic Grace Dent After Host’s Exit Amid Misconduct Claims

variety.com:

Naman Ramachandran Restaurant critic Grace Dent has been appointed as the new judge for “Celebrity MasterChef,” stepping into the role vacated by Gregg Wallace following his departure amid historical misconduct allegations.

Dent, who has been a regular guest on the BBC cooking competition for over a decade, will join John Torode on the judging panel for the show’s upcoming 20th series.

The announcement comes during a turbulent period for the franchise, which saw the BBC pull its Christmas specials following Wallace’s controversial response to misconduct allegations. “I’ve been watching ‘MasterChef’ since I was a girl sitting with my dad on the sofa,” Dent said. “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.” Torode added: “I have loved working with Grace on ‘MasterChef’ over the years.