Has Grace Dent lost weight? The MasterChef judge's vegan diet and 15k steps a day regime revealed as fans notice she looks different
Grace has been open about her struggles over the yearsMasterChef 2026 judge Grace Dent has gathered fan attention as many have been left wondering if she has lost weight. But Grace has actually been previously opened up her weight struggles, and how she maintains a healthy diet now.
Grace is the new co-host of MasterChef, alongside Irish chef Anna Haugh. But over the years, the chef has been very open on how she endured a complex relationship with food from a very young age.
She detailed her experience in her 2021 book, Hungry, where she opened up on how hard things got for her. So, let’s have a look at her fight back from disordered eating.
Who is Grace Dent and how old is she?
Grace Dent is a huge food critic, who has gone on to appear in numerous shows over the years. However, she had to leave the I’m A Celebrity camp in 2023, due to medical reasons.
Born in 1973, Grace Dent is 52 years old. She grew up in Carlisle, Cumbria. She attended Bishop Goodwin Primary School, and studied English Literature at the University of Stirling.
What has Grace Dent said about her relationship with food?
However, growing up wasn’t always easy for Grace, as she has admitted her complex relationship with food actually began at the age of nine.
Speaking about her attitude to food growing up, she wrote in her book: “The dry Ryvitas stuck in my throat and then I couldn’t sleep at night as my stomach growled, while I dreamt of morning, when I could have three tablespoons of Special K with skimmed milk.”
But by the time she hit sixth form, she and her friends were all counting their calories every day.
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She said: “At this age, me and most of my female friends became masters of calorie counting. Our minds hoovered up and stored for live every approximate kcal per hundred-gram portion.”
800-calorie-a-day diet to lose weight
This complex relationship led to Grace taking on an 800-calorie-a-day diet. But she has explained she knows it was “too low” but at the time she wanted to look “incredible”.
She penned: “Yes, I knew 800 calories was too low and might make me feel faint. But [bleep], by Saturday I could wear a catsuit to the Hacienda and dance to Todd Terry. And I would look [bleep]ing incredible again for a bit.”
Grace took on the Atkins diet to become ‘TV ready’
Grace wanted to look “camera ready” and appear 12lbs under her body’s natural resting weight in order to go on TV.
She explained what the Atkins diet was: “One solitary boiled egg for breakfast. Then, black coffee for lunch and dinner, with occasional pieces of grilled chicken.
“It had indeed given me a size-ten body and cheekbones like razors. But I also had breath like Satan’s bumcleft and the occasional minor blackout.”
Is Grace Dent vegan?
Since 2010, Grace has changed her diet. However, while she adapts a prominently vegan lifestyle, she isn’t “fully” vegan.
Speaking to the Guardian, she admitted: “The vegans aren’t happy with me because I’m not fully vegan. And the meat eaters say I’m trying to destroy the farming industry.
“Any nuance seems to get lost. It does seem to fascinate people though, that I am a food critic who doesn’t love foie gras. Stereotypically those guys love a kidney, bone marrow, sweetbreads. Not me.”
Does Grace Dent drink alcohol?
Speaking on the Glad We Had This Chat podcast, Grace explained that she became sober after realising she “couldn’t outrun” her dieting.
She explained: “Being a restaurant critic means your body doesn’t belong to you. It belongs to the newspaper really. There is always thousands and thousands of calories coming.”
Grace added: “But I am three years sober. I think three years ago, I realised I couldn’t outrun my diet, no matter how much I walked.”
But she explained that once she stopped drinking, the weight “started to drop right off”.
Speaking about what prompted her to stop drinking, Grace admitted she was drinking in a “very British way” since 14.
She explained: “I wouldn’t have said I had an alcohol problem. I didn’t binge or drink secretly. But I began as a teenager in a field, then moved on to student bars and dinner parties. Then there was media industry and reviewing restaurants, where endless drinks are on offer.
“I grew sick of losing bits of my life to feeling [bleep]. So, I just stopped completely. My skin looked radically different right away.”
Has Grace Dent used weight-loss jabs?
However, one thing that Grace is firmly against is the use of weight-loss jabs.
She explained to The Times: “I will never take one. I wouldn’t be able to do my job. But, I can understand why people are taking them. It feels like magic right now.
“But there is a murky side of this that we haven’t quite reckoned with yet.”
She also believes she can spot people who are using the weight-loss jabs as she claims they have a “specific stare” that isn’t “happiness”.
What is Grace Dent’s fitness regime now?
She also revealed the The Telegraph that she wouldn’t have been able to keep up with the demands of the job if she was offered it 20 years ago.
But now, Grace feels ready, like she had “trained” for the demands of the job over the last few years.
She explained: “I am working out with a trainer in a boxing gym in Essex, lifting weights and pushing really heavy things. I am eating protein and walking 15,000 steps a day.”
Grace even joked that she bought a “running machine” for her dressing room, though she is yet to make use of it.
Read more: MasterChef 2026 judge Grace Dent’s brutal verdict on Gregg Wallace sacking scandal
