MasterChef Host Takes Stand Against Weight-Loss Injections
Grace Dent, the new host of MasterChef, has declared she will never use weight-loss injections like those tried by fellow television judge Prue Leith. The 52-year-old food critic and broadcaster stated she is currently in the 'best shape of her life' through natural methods including a predominantly plant-based diet and regular exercise.
Dent explained her decision stems from concerns about the 'murky side' of medications such as Ozempic and Mounjaro, whose long-term effects remain unknown. She told The Times: 'I will never take [weight-loss jabs]. I wouldn't be able to do my job. I can understand why people are taking them, because it feels like magic right now. But there is a murky side of this that we haven't quite reckoned with yet.'
Professional Concerns Over Appetite Suppression
The journalist highlighted a crucial professional reason for avoiding these treatments: any appetite suppression would make her work as both a MasterChef judge and food critic impossible. Dent believes her career depends on maintaining her natural appetite and enjoyment of food.
She also claimed she can identify users of weight-loss drugs by changes in their appearance, noting: 'There's a specific stare that they seem to have and I don't think that's happiness.'
Prue Leith's Unsuccessful Experience with Mounjaro
In contrast to Dent's approach, Great British Bake Off judge Prue Leith, 85, revealed earlier this month that she had attempted weight loss using Mounjaro. The prescription medication, also known as Tirzepatide, is used for weight management and Type 2 diabetes treatment.
Despite the injection suppressing her appetite and affecting her energy levels, Leith reported it failed to help her lose any weight during the two months she used it. She stated: 'I hated the bloody thing and I was tired all the time, presumably because I wasn't eating.'
Leith discontinued the treatment, describing it as 'terrible for me' and noting the expense involved. Her husband, John Playfair, however, successfully lost two stone using similar jabs.
Dent's Complex History with Food and Dieting
Grace Dent's current healthy approach follows a long and complicated relationship with food that she detailed in her 2021 book, 'Hungry'. She revealed struggling with disordered eating since age nine, including adopting a dangerous 800-calorie daily diet at one point.
She wrote about this extreme period: 'Yes I knew 800 calories a day was too low and might make me feel faint, but by Saturday I could wear a catsuit to the Hacienda and dance to Todd Terry and I would look incredible again for a bit.'
Dent also experimented with the Atkins diet, consuming minimal food that resulted in what she described as 'breath like Satan's bumcleft and the occasional minor blackout' despite achieving a size-ten body.
Her food struggles continued into her television career, where she felt pressure to maintain a weight 12 pounds below her body's natural resting weight for camera appearances. In 2023, she left the I'm A Celebrity jungle on medical grounds amid concerns about her 'scarily unwell' appearance.
Now embracing a healthier lifestyle without pharmaceutical assistance, Dent joins Leith in expressing skepticism about the long-term viability of weight-loss injections, with both television personalities highlighting different concerns about this increasingly popular medical approach to weight management.
