Dent, who is restaurant critic for The Guardian, has been a regular guest on MasterChef for over a decade and will appear alongside John Torode on the upcoming 20th series of Celebrity MasterChef when it airs next year.
“To have ended up in this position is more than a dream to me,” says Dent.
“I’m so excited that I can’t eat, which is severely detrimental to a restaurant critic. I feel very lucky to be stepping in for the next Celebrity MasterChef. I can’t wait to meet the fresh celebrity faces for 2025.”
Wallace stepped away from his role on MasterChef last month after it was revealed that complaints made to the BBC regarding historical allegations of misconduct were being investigated.
A statement from the TV show’s production company, Banijay UK, to the PA news agency at the time said that Wallace, who presented and had been a judge on MasterChef UK alongside Torode since 2005, is ‘committed to fully cooperating throughout the process’.
Among the allegations are claims that Wallace made inappropriate sexual comments in the workplace.
Broadcaster Kirsty Wark, who was a Celebrity MasterChef contestant in 2011, said he told ‘sexualised’ jokes during filming.
Wallace’s lawyers have said it is entirely false that he engages in behaviour of a sexually harassing nature.
