Grace Dent has broken her silence several days after leaving the I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here jungle.
The celebrated food critic has said that the hit ITV show, where famous faces are dropped into the Australian jungle to take on a series of ‘Bushtucker Trials’ to win their meals, ‘showed me that I am physically stronger than I thought’.
In a lengthy statement issued on her Instagram page, Grace thanked her followers for an ‘outpouring of love’ and said that she is ‘overwhelmingly sad right now’.
But she also celebrated in her statement all of the things she achieved in her short stint on I’m A Celeb.
She quit the show earlier this week with fans expressing concern for her mental and physical wellbeing during the episode prior.
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She spoke of cockroaches in her ear canal, mealworms in her bra, and of climbing off the side of a skyscraper.
Grace Dent has spoken about her I’m A Celebrity exit in a lengthy statement. Credit: Instagram @gracedent
Grace also said that the jungle allowed her to tap into a calm mental space and taught her to ‘stay calm, have empathy and that screaming achieves nothing but wasted calories’.
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She wrote that I’m A Celebrity ‘gave me a short, sharp glimpse into the pain some folk worldwide endure’.
Grace Dent signed off her statement with: “My plan is to recover…and when the adrenaline finally ebbs away, to make some serious plans for dinner. Three courses, extra potatoes, definitely pudding. I think I deserve it.”
Dear friends. Thank you for the outpouring of love I’ve received since I was removed on Monday. I am overwhelmingly sad right now, but determined to keep alive in my heart the huge personal breakthroughs I made over the weeks. I spent 15 days without a phone or any contact with loved ones, living much of the time outdoors in a rain forest in very wet weather. It gave me a short, sharp glimpse into the pain some folk worldwide endure. Normal life, forever, will always feel beautiful.
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Until now, I had no idea I could find a mental space where I could calmly climb down the side of a sky scraper and then slide out on a pole, unlocking stars,as the cars below on the street felt the size of ants.
I had no idea it was possible to be shown an American football helmet and be informed I was shortly to be locked in at the neck and filled to the eyebrows with cockroaches, and for me to think ‘OK this is doable, the trick is to breathe’.
For as long as I live, I shall never forget the cockroach that entered my ear canal and the sound of its little feet creeping closer down to my brain. It took us two goes to lure him out. Sat on the grass behind the ‘Scarena’ he finally washed up.
The jungle showed me how quickly I could become blasé about sleeping with hungry rats, noisy toads, moths and Huntsman spiders. It taught me that when you have to sleep close to the enemy the trick is to stay calm, have empathy and that screaming achieves nothing but wasted calories.
The jungle showed me that I am physically stronger than I thought; I can carry a lot of logs and water up hill, build fire and eat hare innards at dawn for breakfast.
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I hope I gave you all a smile. I didn’t go out as I planned or I wanted, but I did what I could, and I did it in a siren red gel manicure without chipping a nail. I didn’t cry when I took off my bra to find a family of mealworms living in the right cup. At some level, this must be an achievement.
My plan is to recover…and when the adrenaline finally ebbs away, to make some serious plans for dinner.
Three courses, extra potatoes, definitely pudding. I think I deserve it.
I love you all and miss my jungle crew. Miss Grace Dent xxx
Mancs wanted to test their willpower in the wilderness for ‘life-changing’ cash prize in new TV show
Emily Sergeant
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Mancs who are willing to put their willpower to the test in a bid to win a ‘life-changing’ cash prize are wanted for a new TV show.
Are you prepared to take on the ultimate test of willpower? Channel 4 is currently casting for the potential next series of the smash-hit show, Tempting Fortune, and is calling on brave people from across Greater Manchester to apply to take part.
Tempting Fortune is described as being a ‘groundbreaking social experiment’.
Filmed in a distant paradise, this epic series full of twists and turns – which ended its gripping second season last Sunday (6 April) – gives a group of regular people the chance to take part in an adventure ‘with a twist’ and earn a ‘substantial cash reward’ at the end of it.
Mancs willing to test their willpower in the wilderness are wanted for a new TV show / Credit: Channel 4
But what stands in the way of that cash prize is the wilderness, and contestants will be tasked with grappling with the elements, the terrain, and their own willpower along the way.
A casting call for the potential upcoming next series of the show on the Channel 4 website reads: “We are casting for fun, diverse individuals from all different backgrounds.
“We are looking for applicants who are excited by the challenge of embarking on a new adventure that will test them both physically and mentally.”
Find out more and apply on the Channel 4 website here.
Featured Image – Channel 4
TV & Showbiz
Fans are literally FLYING to Holmes Chapel to walk in the footsteps of Harry Styles
Daisy Jackson
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Now I think we can all agree that Harry Styles is one of the North West’s finest musical exports (even if he has disappeared off the face of the planet since his Love on Tour tour) – but taking a flight just to visit his teenage haunts? It’s a lot.
But that is how dedicated the former One Direction star’s fans are, flocking across oceans to visit his first place of work, his old school, and even the house he used to live in.
Earlier this year, the village of Holmes Chapel in Cheshire released a self-guided Harry Styles tour, highlighting the village’s ‘many connections to Harry’.
They said that already, fans have flocked from all over the world to take on the tour.
The Holmes Chapel Partnership said: “Over the past year Holmes Chapel has seen an increase in visitors coming to pay homage to pop superstar Harry Styles who grew up in the village.
“We created this map as part of our ‘Safe Walking Routes’ project which shows the safest walking route from Holmes Chapel train station to the Viaduct, then continues through the village.”
Landmarks along the route include the Twemlow Viaduct, rumoured to be the site of Harry’s first kiss; the Mandeville’s Bakery where he worked on Saturdays before joining The X Factor; and the Fortune City Restaurant, a local Chinese where he once took Taylor Swift. Which is a sentence and a half…
The bakery in Holmes Chapel where Harry Styles used to work. Credit: Flickr, VagueonthehowThe Twemlow Viaduct, rumoured to be the site of his first kiss. Credit: Unsplash, David GriffithsHighlights of the Harry Styles tour in Holmes Chapel
Most tour journeys start at Holmes Chapel train station – now complete with a new mural of Harry Styles himself – before heading on into the village itself.
One fan recently shared their own journey to Harry’s hometown, which started with a flight (yes, actual air miles went into this day out) to get to Manchester before hopping on a train to Cheshire.
Documenting their tour on TikTok, the fan said they were ‘genuinely shaking’ as their train pulled into the village.
They then visited attractions like the small shop on the platform that sells merch, and has a visitor’s book where you can leave a message for Harry Styles – apparently, his dad comes to collect the books when they’re full.
Once reaching the bakery, they discovered a framed photograph of the One Direction band members – including the late Liam Payne – together eating pies, and wrote: “Nearly sobbed seeing this picture alone.”
Then it was a 25 minute walk across fields to the aforementioned viaduct, where countless fans have doodled messages on the brick in a colourful display.
“Having to say bye was so hard,” they wrote.
Of course, for those of us who live a few minutes from Holmes Chapel, calling this tour a tourist attraction seems a little bizarre.
One person said in the comments: “As someone from manchester, this is crazy. You flew to Holmes Chapel?”
Another asked: “Girl why did you go on a pilgrimage to his home town.”
All I hope is that someone scribbled in the visitor’s book ‘Where TF is new music, Harry!?’
Daisy Jackson -
30th November 2023 
