Grace Dent has quit the I’m A Celebrity jungle – just hours after viewers said they were worried about her appearance in camp.
The food critic, 50, known for her strong opinions on cuisine, had looked pale and a shadow of herself on Sunday night’s show and said on camera “I just want to go home”. She was picked to do the latest trial Down The Tubes but barely reacted and stayed mute the entire time hosts Ant and Dec were in camp – and her campmates were seen gathering around her to comfort Grace once the duo left the camp.
ITV have now confirmed the food critic has left the show for good. In a statement, a spokesperson for the show said: “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.”
Grace, 50, is now travelling back to London via Brisbane airport as a source close to Grace confirmed: “She is heading back to London today. She is tired and she just wants to get home.” Meanwhile, Danielle Harold will take Grace’s place in the Busktucker Trial alongside Josie.
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ITV)
It is likely that the rice and beans diet was a real “shock to the system” which she had worried about prior to going into camp, and she felt she could not continue. Viewers on social media site ‘X’, formerly twitter, had commented Grace looked ill or very thin in recent days on the show. “Someone should check Grace’s pulse. That girl does not look well. #ImACeleb,” one penned.
While one shared concerns over how quiet the MasterChef star was, one wrote: “Are we sure her jaws have not been wired shut? Never seen her so quiet. #Grace #ImaCeleb”. A third added: “Is grace ok?? Think she needs checking on she looks so deflated #ImACeleb”.
“Grace looks so sick on #ImACeleb @imacelebrity I hope she’s ok,” another concerned viewer posted as a fifth said of her reaction to. being voted to do the trial: “Grace looks so depressed she looks fed up and disappointed like she doesn’t want to do it #ImACeleb”.
And Grace herself admitted before the series began that eating and food would be the hardest part for her. 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.”
Speaking at Brisbane airport on arrival on November 14, Grace also told how she had been dining out and eating well. She said: “My flight was amazing, I feel very well rested. I’ve eaten very well. I’ve been stocking up on delicious tastes because I’m wondering when I’m gonna taste them again.
“I think it’s going to be a real challenge. For the last week I’ve been eating in the most wonderful restaurants in London, you know, five course dinners, all the wonderful foods that London offers. So, I think it’s maybe gonna be a bit of a shock to my system.”
Before going into camp Grace also suggested she would hang back initially on the show. She said: “My approach these days is to listen and sit back for a bit. Joining in, and shouting, and adding to drama is not achieving anything. But what I do hope is that I’m a little bit older than a lot of the people. I hope that I can listen intently and try and get to grips with what is actually happening.”
However, she seems to have taken this to extremes and after being seen walking away from some political arguments with former Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage she has rarely been the centre of attention and has not been seen on screen much at all.
In fact analysis of the opening four shows revealed she was on screen for just 21 minutes. Before choosing to leave she had been the bookmakers’ favourite to leave when evictions begin on Friday.
One of the rare times she was on screen came on Friday taking part in the Touchdown of Terror trial. But shortly before taking part she said: “I’ve had enough. I’ve completely had enough. I just want to go home.”
Josie Gibson encouraged her and said: “It’ll be good for you. What an experience.” Grace went on to confess in the Bush Telegraph: “I haven’t got a lot left in me at the moment. I’m just keeping a face on for everybody.”
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