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. 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. On the podcast, expect to hear from guests (actors from TV, movie, theatre and film; sportspeople, comedians, chefs…) such as: Shirley Ballas, Nadiya Hussain, James Norton, Graham Norton, Michael Ball, Alfie Boe, Amma Asante, Gaz Coombes, Georgia Pritchett, Jayde Adams, Adam Kay, Jaime Winstone, Jay Blades, Malorie Blackman, Dawn O’Porter, Jamie Laing, Natalie Cassidy, 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, Fern Brady, 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, Jon Ronson, Jamie Demetriou, Bridget Christie, Mary McCartney, Keith Brymer Jones, Adjoa Andoh, Tamsin Greig, Tom Kerridge, Katherine Ryan, Golda Rosheuvel, Suranne Jones and, David Baddiel, Amol Rajan, Michelle DeSwarte, Kathy Burke, Katie Price 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, ins

  • 47 minutes 54 seconds
    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
    25 February 2025, 5:00 am
  • 49 minutes 4 seconds
    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
    18 February 2025, 5:00 am
  • 29 seconds
    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
    13 February 2025, 5:00 am
  • 44 minutes 53 seconds
    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.
    1 January 2025, 5:00 am
  • 29 minutes 49 seconds
    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
    24 December 2024, 5:00 am
  • 39 minutes 16 seconds
    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.
    17 December 2024, 5:00 am
  • 42 minutes 58 seconds
    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
    10 December 2024, 5:00 am
  • 42 minutes 4 seconds
    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
    3 December 2024, 5:00 am
  • 40 minutes 31 seconds
    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.
    26 November 2024, 5:00 am
  • 43 minutes
    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
    19 November 2024, 5:00 am
  • 44 minutes 4 seconds
    S8, Ep8: Phil Wang, comedian
    Funny guy Phil Wang joins Grace this week for another helping of Comfort Eating. Phil has a textbook comedy career: president of Footlights at Cambridge University, graduating with agents sniffing at his heels; sell-out Edinburgh shows; and now purveyor of two Netflix comedy specials. Phil and Grace talk about how to supermarket shop with crocodiles in the aisles, how garlic sauce pervaded his student days and his justice campaign for reheating rice. If you liked this episode then have a listen to Grace’s conversations with Jayde Adams, David Baddiel and Jamie Demetriou
    12 November 2024, 5:00 am
  • More Episodes? Get the App