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
Jun 28, 2022 • 40min
S3 E7: Marian Keyes, author
In this conversation, Marian Keyes, an insightful Irish novelist, shares her journey through personal struggles and transformation. They reminisce about childhood trips to empty runways and the liberating feeling of going feral at home. Keyes talks about how baking became a refuge during her battle with depression and reveals her favorite comfort foods. The discussion humorously navigates the intersection of food, family, and identity, all while highlighting the healing power of simple rituals.
Jun 21, 2022 • 39min
S3 E6: Rufus Wainwright, musician
Grace has a call from across the pond as she and the legendary singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright talk all things Comfort Eating. He tells her about going to a preppy boarding school, becoming addicted to crystal meth, and having his daughter via surrogacy with his husband. And, as always, he reveals the comfort foods that have seen him through it all
Jun 14, 2022 • 42min
S3 E5: Saoirse-Monica Jackson, Derry Girls actor
Next round for a plate of comforting carbs is actor Saoirse-Monica Jackson. She tells Grace about secret drinking as a school student, living in a haunted hotel in Donegal, and her dad’s ‘awful’ cooking. And of course, she shares the comfort foods that have seen her through it all
Jun 7, 2022 • 41min
S3 E4: Big Zuu, rapper and TV personality
Double Bafta winner Big Zuu goes round to Grace’s house for a plate of his ultimate comfort food. They talk about his ‘scandalous’ mother, growing up between extreme wealth and poverty, and the wild success of his show Big Zuu’s Big Eats. And, of course, the comfort foods that have seen him through it all
May 31, 2022 • 38min
S3 E3: Eddie Marsan, actor
For the third episode of season three of Comfort Eating, Grace welcomes the Ridley Road, Ray Donovan and Sherlock actor Eddie Marsan round to hers. They talk about his upbringing in the East End, his changing relationship with his own appearance, and falling in love with his wife while playing a pig. And he lets Grace in on all the comfort foods that have seen him through
May 24, 2022 • 47min
S3 E2: Self Esteem, musician
Next over to Grace’s kitchen is the pop star Rebecca Lucy Taylor, aka Self Esteem. Their riotous afternoon includes ‘northern women eating carbs’, the joy of buying expensive jumpers, and some unexpected tears. And, as always, Self Esteem revels in the comfort foods that have seen her through her life and music career
May 17, 2022 • 37min
S3 E1: James May, broadcaster
Grace Dent is back for third helpings of Comfort Eating, and her first guest of the season is James May, co-presenter of The Grand Tour. The pair chow down over the ex-Top Gear star’s favourite snack, as he tells Grace about his childhood in Rotherham, inability to share food and how a ‘catastrophic lack of ambition’ led him to be one of the UK’s most popular broadcasters
May 12, 2022 • 1min
Comfort Eating with Grace Dent is back – podcast trailer
Comfort Eating with Grace Dent is back for third helpings on 17 May. Join her and celebrity guests as they reveal the comfort foods that have seen them through in the third series You can see Grace Dent on Comfort Eating live at the Podcast Show on 25 May, with special guest Jamie Laing. Tickets can be found here
Jan 11, 2022 • 38min
S2 E12: Guy Garvey, musician
Grace’s final guest for season two of Comfort Eating is the Elbow frontman Guy Garvey. He tells Grace about growing up as one of seven, coping with stage fright through booze, learning to be comfortable in restaurants in his 40s, and the comfort foods that have seen him through it all
Jan 4, 2022 • 37min
S2 E11: Dave Myers, hairy biker
Grace’s first fellow Cumbrian guest on Comfort Eating comes in the form of TV cook and hairy biker Dave Myers. He tells Grace about – ironically – losing all his hair aged eight, his years as a makeup artist, working in the steelyards of Barrow-in-Furness, and the comfort foods that have seen him through it all
