Comfort Eating with Grace Dent
The Guardian
From school dinners to sofa snacks – food has a huge part to play in shaping our story - and your favourite celebs have some delicious tales to tell. Join Grace Dent and celebrity guests as she throws the cupboard doors open and chats life through food. Expect to hear from guests (actors from TV, movie, theatre and film; sportspeople, comedians, chefs…) such as: Katie Price, Jamie Laing, Natalie Cassidy, Kathy Burke, Jon Ronson, Shirley Ballas, Nadiya Hussain, James Norton, Graham Norton, Jamie Demetriou, Michael Ball, Alfie Boe, Amma Asante, Jay Blades, Michelle DeSwarte, Gaz Coombes, Georgia Pritchett, Fern Brady, Jayde Adams, Adam Kay, Jaime Winstone, Malorie Blackman, Dawn O’Porter, Neneh Cherry, Greg Rutherford, Goldie, Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson, Marian Keyes, Rufus Wainwright, Saoirse-Monica Jackson, Big Zuu, Eddie Marsan, Self Esteem, James May, Guy Garvey, Dave Myers, Jo Brand, Craig David, Bernardine Evaristo, Tom Watson, Rosie Jones, Laura Whitmore, Desiree Burch, Russell Tovey, Stephen Fry, Deborah Meaden, Munya Chawawa, Aisling Bea, Krishnan Guru-Murthy, Candice Carty-Williams, Lawrence Chaney, Siobhán McSweeney, Scarlett Moffatt, Joanne McNally, Mae Martin, Rafe Spall, Nish Kumar, Bridget Christie, Mary McCartney, Keith Brymer Jones, Adjoa Andoh, Tamsin Greig, Tom Kerridge, Katherine Ryan, Golda Rosheuvel, Suranne Jones and, David Baddiel, Amol Rajan and Russell T Davies. Comfort Eating is a one-to-one interview. In Grace’s kitchen, her guests discuss their lives in the context of food, cooking and cuisine. They talk about comfort food and snack recipes. The tone of the podcast is: warm, comforting, chatty, feel good, cheering, heart warming, comical and amusing. It’s inspiring but also escapism. It’s funny, comedy, laugh out loud / LOL, entertaining, humourous, inspirational, hilarious, illuminating, memorable, uplifting, soothing, reassuring, cheery and entertaining. Expect to hear humour, discussion, gossip and revelation. Grace's new Comfort Eating book, inspired by the podcast, is out now. It’s a wonderfully scrumptious, life-affirming journey through the foods that really mean the most to us.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Feb 25, 2025 • 48min
S9, Ep2: Ellie Simmonds, Paralympian
This week on Comfort Eating, Grace is joined by five-time Paralympic gold medalist Ellie Simmonds. At 30, Ellie has hung up her goggles and retired from swimming, but instead of claiming an early pension, she has turned her hand to disability activism and documentary making – in 2024 she won a Bafta for her documentary Finding My Secret Family. She talks to Grace about the food that sustained her gruelling swim training schedule, her celebratory McDonald’s order during the Paralympics, and her secret recipe for orange scones. Ellie also opens up about accusations of bullying within British Para-Swimming in the buildup to Rio 2016
Feb 18, 2025 • 49min
S9, Ep1: Gary Kemp, musician
Songwriter, musician and actor, best known as a heartthrob in one of the biggest bands of the 1980s, Gary Kemp joins Grace for a brand new helping of Comfort Eating. Longtime Spandau Ballet fan Grace hears about the good old days: how Gary poured a tin of golden syrup over baby brother Martin Kemp’s head; how there were eels for dinner kept alive in his nan’s sink; and how hot fish and chips in their wrapper warped his first beloved T Rex record. Gary opens up about how he defiantly started eating meat again after his very public split from actor Sadie Frost, how his film career took him to Hollywood to act alongside Whitney Houston, who worked the catering tent nicely, and unwanted perishable gifts from affectionate fans at the height of Spandau Ballet fame
Feb 13, 2025 • 29sec
Comfort Eating with Grace Dent is back for a new helping
Season nine of Comfort Eating with Grace Dent will kick off on Tuesday 18 February. Join Grace and her celebrity guests, including Gary Kemp, Ellie Simmonds and Pete Tong, as they delve into what they love to eat when nobody is watching
Jan 1, 2025 • 45min
Sadiq Khan, mayor of London
To welcome in the New Year, Grace is joined by politician Sadiq Khan. Born in south London, to British Pakistani parents, he is one of eight children and was MP for Tooting before becoming London’s mayor in 2016. Now in his third term, Sadiq and Grace talk about how doughnuts fuel him during elections, the art of screwing up a tuna pasta bake, and where he’d like to take Donald Trump for dinner next time the president-elect is in town.
Dec 24, 2024 • 30min
A Comfort Eating Christmas
Christmas has arrived at Comfort Eating HQ, so join Grace as she joyfully wallows in her annual Christmas baking session while musing on her favourite Comfort Eating yuletide memories. From multi-Grammy winner Gregory Porter on his mum’s festive cook-ups, to baking extraordinaire Nadiya Hussain on her childhood turkey midnight feasts, plus Craig David, Michael Ball and many more
Dec 17, 2024 • 39min
S8, E13: Matt Goss, musician
Join Grace for a twinkly helping of festive Comfort Eating, where she is joined by Matt Goss, one third of Bros. One of the biggest boy bands of the 20th century, it was a tabloid sensation when the band split. Since then, Matt has broken the US and holds the record as the longest-running British resident artist in Las Vegas. Grace and Matt discuss the Christmases of his childhood, headlining a sell-out Wembley, and what you do when you get a call from Reggie Kray asking for a chat. If you liked this episode then have a listen to our other Christmas episode with Craig David, Gregory Porter, and Michael Ball and Alfie Boe.
Dec 10, 2024 • 43min
S8, E12: Paterson Joseph, actor and author
One of the UK’s best loved character actors, Paterson Joseph, joins Grace for another serving of Comfort Eating. The Beach, Peep Show and Wonka actor looks back at his career and muses on the roles he didn’t get, namely the role of Doctor Who to replace David Tennant in 2010. Paterson remembers his parents smuggling yams in from Saint Lucia, the politics of biscuit and toast tax when you’re one of six siblings and the sweet treats on the Wonka set. If you liked this episode then have a listen to James Norton, David Harewood and Tamsin Greig
Dec 3, 2024 • 42min
S8, E11: Diane Morgan, actor
Actor and comedian Diane Morgan joins Grace for another helping of Comfort Eating. Diane is best known for playing mockumentary historian Philomena Cunk, droll antihero Liz in the critically acclaimed BBC sitcom Motherland, and Mandy in … Mandy. Diane reveals how she keeps a straight face when asking world experts very silly questions, why she was sacked from her waitressing job, and what happened when she tried to introduce hugging to the Morgan family. If you liked this episode then have a listen to Grace’s conversations with Aisling Bea, Saoirse-Monica Jackson, and Jamie Demetriou
Nov 26, 2024 • 41min
S8, E10: David Gray, musician
The multi-platinum selling musician David Gray joins Grace this week on Comfort Eating. His breakthrough album White Ladder topped the charts worldwide and sold more than 3m copies in the UK, making it one of the best selling albums of the 21st century. Now with his 13th album, Dear Life, he joins Grace to look back at how music changed his life, the food that sustained a three-decade career and how he avoids playing the celebrity game. If you liked this episode then have a listen to Grace’s conversations with Rufus Wainwright, Guy Garvey and Self Esteem.
Nov 19, 2024 • 43min
S8, Ep9: Monica Dolan, actor
Bafta-award winning actor Monica Dolan shares her ultimate comfort food with Grace. Known for playing cardigan-wearing villains, Monica has been described as one of the greatest actors of her generation. She talks about the hell of Covid shopping, how to play a serial killer, and how a weekly Irish stew held her family together during childhood. If you liked this episode then have a listen to Grace’s conversations with Eddie Marsan, Saoirse-Monica Jackson and Siobhán McSweeney
