ITV I'm A Celebrity star Grace Dent quits show after viewers share concern
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. She did not take part in the trial and her celebrity replacement has since been revealed.
ITV have now confirmed the food critic has left the show for good – with one star suggesting the 'real reason' behind her exit. 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, who is expected to still be paid her full show fee, 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.
The restaurant critic was spotted at Brisbane Airport shortly after her exit was announced. She refused to speak to reporters and was flanked by ITV security as she was escorted to the airport through the VIP entrance.
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Grace was seen at Brisbane Airport checking in for the 23:25 Singapore Airlines flight to Singapore for the first leg of her trip home. She looked tired and her clothes looked noticeably looser than when she arrived.
The TV star was accompanied by security and was then taken through a VIP entrance to departures rarely used by celebrities. A show source said: "She is feeling like s**t and just wants to get on the plane and sleep."
Viewers noticed she looked 'defeated' when she was picked to do the latest trial (ITV)And a source close to Grace said they thought the diet of rice and beans "had been a real shock to the system". They added: "She is a food critic so is of course used to trying lots of different things and fine dining and eating when she wants. The camp maybe was harder than she realised going in."
Before her decision to quit was announced, Grace had made it clear her time in the jungle was nearing an end as her last few days in the jungle were taking a toll on the star. She told campmate Josie Gibson last week: "I’ve had enough. I’ve completely had enough. I just want to go home." And she added in the Bush Telegraph: "I haven’t got a lot left in me at the moment. I’m just keeping on a face for everybody."
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. However, it has now been claimed Grace and ITV made a mutual decision for her to quit the programme over her 'scarily unwell' appearance.
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.
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Grace was pictured at Brisbane Airport shortly after her show exit was announced (Tim Merry/Mirror Express)
Grace appeared tired as a show source said 'she is feeling like sh*t' (Tim Merry/Mirror Express)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."
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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."
She also struggled with critters inside the jungle as, during a trial, Grace was seen by a medic after a cockroach crawled into her ear. During the Touchdown of Terror trial last week, Grace pulled the emergency chord to halt the challenge – automatically giving the win to the other team as she said: "There’s one in my ear! There’s one in my ear! That’s not nice, I can hear it." The bug was flushed her from ear and removed.
Grace had seemed an unlikely addition to this year's show, following her previous scathing comments about I'm A Celebrity. She once branded the show "a puerile venture into starvation, televised constipation and animal cruelty, abbreviated by ads for Iceland £1 curries".
And, in 2012, the MasterChef guest judge admitted she was embarrassed to watch the award-winning reality show, fronted by Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly. She said: "I snap my blinds firmly shut before settling down to watch I’m a Celeb, in fear the theme tune alone devalues my property."
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