Grace Dent breaks silence on her exit from I'm A Celeb

Grace Dent has shared a post on Instagram following her shock exit from I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! on ‘medical grounds’.

The 50-year-old restaurant critic left the show after a week in the jungle, with an ITV spokesperson confirming: "Unfortunately Grace Dent has left the show on medical grounds.

"She has been a great campmate and will be missed by her fellow celebrities and viewers alike.”

Prior to leaving I'm A Celeb, Dent admitted: "I just want to go home,” while viewers were concerned about how quiet the star was in camp and questioned whether she was ‘sick’

Now in a lengthy post on Instagram, Dent has thanked fans for their support and said she was now ‘recovering’ from her time Down Under.

She wrote: “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 rainforest 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."

ITV

Dent continued: “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."

ITV

She concluded her post by saying: “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.”