Grace Dent Leaves I'm A Celebrity Jungle 'On Medical Grounds'

Restaurant critic Grace Dent has left the I'm A Celebrity jungle "on medical grounds", a spokesperson for the show has said.

A spokesperson for the ITV programme 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."

MasterChef star Dent, 50, had said, before facing the Touchdown of Terror trial, she was struggling in the jungle.

She told campmate Josie Gibson last week:

"I've had enough. I've completely had enough. I just want to go home."

The food critic added in the Bush Telegraph - a room where campmates can air their thoughts:

"I haven't got a lot left in me at the moment. I'm just keeping on a face for everybody."

Dent, who has written restaurant reviews for The Guardian and Evening Standard, had been due to face the next trial, named Down The Tubes, with Gibson. EastEnders' Danielle Harold is expected to take her place.

The I'm A Celebrity cast members, including controversial politician Nigel Farage, First Dates star Fred Sirieix and Britney Spears's sister Jamie Lynn, have been in the jungle for just over a week.

The show has so far attracted a lower audience than last year's series, which featured former health secretary Matt Hancock.

This year's launch was watched by seven million people in its first week - down from a consolidated audience of nearly 12 million last year.

Ahead of entering the jungle this year, Dent 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."

She said she signed up for the show after "a really difficult time over the last four or five years".

She told ITV:

"My dad had dementia, I cared for him and I lost him. Mum had cancer and I lost her.

"I think that this has made me very strong and resilient. This is going to be a big challenge and now I am older, life is for living and it's one of the reasons why I said yes."

(c) Sky News 2023: Grace Dent leaves I'm A Celebrity jungle 'on medical grounds'