We don't always agree but we never fight

Chef Anna Haugh and food critic Grace Dent discuss taking the helm as hosts of MasterChef

- WORDS: JEN PHARO

Fronting the world’s most successful cooking show in the world might sound daunting, but new MasterChef hosts Grace Dent and Anna Haugh are taking it all in their stride. Food critic Grace and award-winning chef Anna are both familiar faces to fans of the show, but the new series marks the first time they have appeared side by side as co-hosts. The pair have become close friends while filming 13-hour days at MasterChef’s new Birmingham Studios. “You'll be friends or enemies as you are around each other so much,” says Anna. “We're similar, but then we're very different, and that’s what I think makes it interesting. We don’t always agree but we never fight. It’s a nice duo and there’s a lovely vibe in the studio.”

Grace agrees. “We don’t fight,” she says. “MasterChef is filmed in a very intensive way. We have to get along. You can’t help but end up being friends.”

Grace and Anna are replacing former hosts Gregg Wallace and John Torode, who were both axed when a bombshell report upheld separate allegations of serious workplace misconduct against them.