Masterchef is back! The 22nd season of the cooking competition is set to return to our screens this evening (21 April), with 48 new amateur cooks hoping to win the coveted Masterchef title. And with a brand new season, comes two brand new judges, as Grace Dent and Anna Haugh join the show, following Gregg Wallace and John Torode's departure from the series.
In July 2025, it was announced Wallace and Torode's contracts at the show would not be renewed, and Dent and Haugh were announced as their replacements.
As for how they feel about taking up the reins of the show? Haugh told the Radio Times ahead of the series' release, "Well, it’s bigger than any one person. The contestants are brilliant. The show is a reflection of them."
And Dent said: "I don’t feel I am ‘picking up’ after anybody. I’ve been going to work every day at the helm of the most important food show, probably in British television history. I think I’m doing well."
So what else do you need to know about Grace and Anna? Here's your full guide to the new Masterchef judges.
Who is new Masterchef judge Grace Dent?
Grace Dent is a restaurant critic and journalist and has written for The Guardian, The Independent, The Evening Standard and many more. She has written a series of novels and also her own memoir Hungry: A Memoir of Wanting More. She also has previously hosted her own food podcast Comfort Eating With Grace Dent, published by The Guardian.
This isn't the first time we'll have seen Grace on our Masterchef screens with the food critic havinlgy previously appeared as a guest judge throughout various series on Celebrity Masterchef, Masterchef: The Professionals and Masterchef.
Last year she replaced Gregg Wallace as one of two main judges in the most recent series of Celebrity Masterchef, which she appeared in alongside John Torrode.
Who is new Masterchef judge Anna Haugh?
Anna Haugh is best known for being a chef. She began her career working at L'Ecrivain, before going on to work with chefs including Gordon Ramsay, Shane Osborn and Philip Howard. In 2019 she went onto open her own restaurant called Myrtle in Chelsea.
Over the years she's continued to pop on our TV screens, with regular appearances on Saturday Kitchen and Morning Live. She's also regularly appeared on Masterchef: The Professionals and Celebrity Masterchef in the past, so she's used to the BBC kitchen.
Masterchef returns tonight at 9pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer
