Grace Dent speaks out about I’m A Celebrity exit and plans ‘recovery and dinner’

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.

She spoke of cockroaches in her ear canal, mealworms in her bra, and of climbing off the side of a skyscraper.

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’.

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.”

Grace Dent’s I’m A Celebrity statement in full

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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.

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.

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

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Featured image: Instagram, @gracedent