Grace Dent says judging ‘MasterChef' is “very stressful”.
Grace Dent says MasterChef judging is stressful
The 48-year-old food critic admits she often sees the contestants on the BBC cookery competition get “really emotional” over their food, because the dishes mean so much to them.
While appearing on Nick Grimshaw and Angela Hartnett’s podcast ‘Dish’, she said: "It's very stressful. And I think that the technique they use to keep it stressful really works because they don't let me see the competitors at all.
"You know, it's not as if we're all standing outside having a ciggie together.
"So, they used to never let them see me until that moment that they come through the door with the plate or whatever, or if I'm in the kitchen walking about, they kind of hide me in like a cupboard at the back, you know?
"So, Greg would go, ‘We've got a formidable presence in food here today. It's Grace Dent’, I think he said, ‘What was that like?’ That like the first few times I came through that door, I just used to kind of be quiet, like meek.
"But then I thought, I'm not getting any screen time, so I just do a pure-panto, you know, just come through the door and be incredibly panto. But they look really upset when I first appear because they're tired, you know, sleepless and they've been mentally making the same dish in their head in the flight simulator all night, you know, I mean 70 times and then ... they're really tense.
"But, you know, are we even playing that game if people aren't crying? Joking aside, though, people cry because food is really emotional. And if they've been set a brief, to make something that reminds them of home or something, it reminds them of travels or somebody they love or they often, they store it all in the pit of their stomach and then they make it. And then when you ask them to explain it for the first time, they just cry."
Despite now writing about some of the world’s most glamorous eateries, Grace admits her idea of a “posh meal” growing up was a birthday treat at the local Wimpy.
She said: "Well, I never went for posh meals when I was little. I'm from Carlisle, you know, there wasn't any posh restaurants. One of the most
exciting meals I had was at the Wimpy."
'Dish', the new podcast from Waitrose Partners hosted by Nick Grimshaw and Angela Hartnett is available on all podcast providers now.