As the new face of MasterChef, restaurant critic Grace Dent is discovering an amusing side to her newfound fame. "People keep approaching me and clutching my arm and saying they’re so happy about it," says the 51-year-old who was brought in to the BBC show to replace Gregg Wallace. "It's a life-changing thing. You can be a little bit well known in London, but with the MasterChef audience, you've got no privacy ever again."
On the latest episode of HELLO!'s Second Act podcast, Grace tells host Ateh Jewel that it was the realisation that she was comfort eating slices of Victoria sponge with her mother before she died that made her reevaluate her life.
"[My mother and I] had a common intense love of cake and as she was getting ill, the only time I had respite was to find her a new cake. After she had gone, I put on a stack of weight. I was in such bad physical and mental shape that I thought of retiring. So, my Second Act started there, doing all the things to get back into shape. I came back fighting and now I am better than I've ever been."
Grace is realistic, though, and she says it is a work in progress. "There's a much bigger girl inside me smoking a ciggy going, 'I'll be back',” she laughs.
Turning 50
Last year saw Grace turn 50, but she couldn't bring herself to celebrate her milestone birthday immediately. "I was in the middle of a book tour and woke up in bed in Edinburgh, opened some birthday cards and thought, 'Well, that's got a big number on the front'.
© sarah_brick"It was when I got to 51, I started to celebrate every day. Getting old is a privilege. I aim to grow old disgracefully," she adds.
"I'm influenced by these incredible women in their 70s who are competing in bodybuilding and running incredible businesses. People treat [women] like Pru Leith and Mary Berry like they are old ladies. Those women are doing the most incredible filming schedules and working so much harder than some who is 20 turning up to set."
HELLO!'s Second Act is a newsletter for women in midlife and beyond. It's completely free to sign up and is a one-stop-shop for advice and inspiration on the issues our Second Act community have told us matter most: health, relationships, travel, menopause, divorce, careers, finance and more.
She adds: "Everything I am doing today is in preparation to be able to have a really good 80s and 90s. I want to be one of those women skipping onto a cruise ship at 90."
Listen to the Second Act podcast now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Podcasts and Youtube.
