🔥 Grace Dent fires back after MasterChef shake-up and Gregg Wallace exit stirs buzz

MasterChef star Grace Dent has addressed the fallout surrounding Gregg Wallace ahead of the 2026 series launch – and, true to form, she didn’t hold back.

Grace steps into the spotlight alongside Anna Haugh for the new series, following the departures of both Gregg and John Torode amid controversy.

Grace Dent on Gregg Wallace MasterChef scandal

Speaking candidly about taking over, Grace insisted she has no interest in looking back.

“All I can think about is the future. I can’t look back. I haven’t got time,” she said.

“It might seem like I’m just pointing at scallops [but] it’s full-on and difficult, and I’m working with an enormous team. So no, I don’t think about the past.”

She doubled down in another interview, adding: “No, I don’t feel I am ‘picking up’ after anybody. I’ve been going to work every day at the helm of the most important food show, probably in British television history. I think I’m doing well. There is no way I’d show up a year ago on that set and begin to work in the manner that I did, while looking backwards.”

But when it came to Gregg himself, Grace was more reflective – and brutally honest.

“He was always a very, very big character.

“After reading the entire [inquiry] report, my recollections of having a nice time with him, drinking coffee and having a biscuit now and again is pretty much irrelevant. For me to sit here now and go: ‘Well, that’s not the Gregg that I knew,’ is beside the point. Because it’s not about what I think.”

She also revealed she distanced herself completely from the controversy as it unfolded.

“He said an awful lot, and that was during the point when I was starting my new [MasterChef] job and I utterly cut myself off from all of that,” she said.

And as the headlines spiralled, Grace admitted she deliberately shut them out to focus on the job.

“I couldn’t even think about that [the headlines]. I had to pack up all of my life and move to Birmingham and begin filming immediately. If I had given it a moment’s thought, it would have been very difficult. I didn’t have time to read any of the headlines, and if I could have, I wouldn’t have. I just had to get on with it.”

‘I absolutely adore John Torode’

While her comments on Gregg were measured, Grace spoke warmly about John.

“I absolutely adore John Torode. He is one of the kindest, most concerned, clever, thoughtful men that I know,” she said, adding that he was “just incredibly supportive” when she stepped into her new role.

Anna Haugh weighs in on MasterChef shake-up

Meanwhile, Anna took a more diplomatic approach when addressing the show’s overhaul.

She praised the production team, saying they are “absolutely superb”.

“Grace and I are on camera, but there is a whole brigade of people lifting us up, taking care of us, encouraging us to be the best version of ourselves. Nobody wanted us to be anything but authentic and focusing on the different contestants,” she said.

Anna also emphasised that the show itself is bigger than any individual, describing it as “a reflection” of the “brilliant” contestants.