Grace Dent Breaks Silence On 'I'm A Celebrity' Exit

Grace Dent has broken his silence for the first time since exiting 'I'm A Celebrity Get Me Outta Here', on medical grounds.

The restaurant critic and columnist left the jungle this week on medical grounds, saying that she "didn't go out as I planned, or wanted".

Dent had been chosen to face Monday's bushtucker trial, Down The Tubes, before her departure, with Hollyoaks' star Nicky Packard deputising. 

Taking to social media for the first time since her exit, Dent said that she "didn't go out as I planned, or wanted".

"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", Dent wrote on Instagram.

Dent also stated that spending 15 days, "without a phone or any contact with loved ones, living much of the time outdoors in a rainforest in very wet weather" had given her a "short, sharp glimpse into the pain some folk worldwide endure". 

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The broadcaster also called her time in the jungle a growing experience, making her realise that she was physically stronger than she previously thought.

Dent continued, "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". 

Dent also described becoming "blasé about sleeping with hungry rats, noisy toads, moths and huntsman spiders" and said the show had taught her "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". 

"I hope I gave you all a smile," she concluded. "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". 

Two days after Dent's departure, campmate Jamie Lynn Spears, sister of US popstar Britney, also left the show. 

"She's been a fantastic campmate who has triumphed at trials and bonded well with her fellow celebrities", a spokesperson said.