Grace Dent: Almost Everything I’ve Done, I’ve Been Told No First

Before she was a MasterChef judge and one of Britain’s most
distinctive food writers, Grace Dent was a Carlisle kid eating
crispy pancakes and dreaming of life beyond beige dinners. In
this episode of Full Disclosure, she joins James O’Brien to talk
about blagging her way into London media, finding her voice
through food, and why she still can’t believe they let her near
the foie gras.


Grace reflects on growing up in a loud, loving, working-class
family, and how her obsession with pop culture, Smash Hits and
Paula Yates convinced her she was destined for something bigger.
They talk about class, ambition, the snobbery that still haunts
food writing- and why MasterChef was the job her mum would’ve
loved most but never got to see.


With sharp wit, candour and zero pretence, Grace dishes up a
story of rejection, reinvention and the joy of really good jam.


This episode was recorded on 24th June 2025, prior to the
release of the report into allegations of inappropriate behaviour
by MasterChef's presenters on 14th July 2025.


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