Grace Dent 'overwhelmingly sad' after I'm A Celebrity jungle exit

Food critic Grace Dent has described feeling "overwhelmingly sad right now" after leaving I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here and has thanked fans for the "outpouring of love".

ITV said she left the show on Monday on "medical grounds".

In a lengthy statement, Dent said she was "removed" from the reality show but did not go into any more detail.

She also said she wanted to "keep alive in my heart the huge personal breakthroughs" made over the weeks.

Dent said living outdoors for 15 days without her phone or any contact with loved ones, in a rainforest in very wet weather, gave her "a short, sharp glimpse into the pain some folk worldwide endure".

"Normal life, forever, will always feel beautiful," she said.

She also highlighted what she had learned about mental strength, saying the "trick is to stay calm, have empathy and that screaming achieves nothing but wasted calories".

Dent realised she could "find a mental space where I could calmly climb down the side of a sky scraper and then slide out on a pole, unlocking stars, as the cars below on the street felt the size of ants".

"I had no idea it was possible to be shown an American football helmet and be informed I was shortly to be locked in at the neck and filled to the eyebrows with cockroaches, and for me to think 'OK this is doable, the trick is to breathe'."

She also discovered she was "physically stronger than I thought; I can carry a lot of logs and water up hill, build fire and eat hare innards at dawn for breakfast".

"I hope I gave you all a smile. I didn't go out as I planned or I wanted, but I did what I could, and I did it in a siren red gel manicure without chipping a nail," she said.

"I didn't cry when I took off my bra to find a family of mealworms living in the right cup. At some level, this *must* be an achievement."

Dent added that her plan now was to "recover… and when the adrenaline finally ebbs away, to make some serious plans for dinner", saying she loved her fans and misses "my jungle crew".

She had been seen on camera the day before she left the camp saying: "I've had enough. I've completely had enough. I just want to go home," and had been picked to do the latest Bushtucker trial with fellow campmate Josie Gibson.

Following Dent's departure, EastEnders actress Danielle Harold did the trial instead.

On Wednesday, Jamie Lynn Spears also left the show on medical grounds, meaning the 12 celebrities are down to 10 before any eliminations have taken place.

This year's series has so far attracted a lower audience than last year's - which featured former health secretary Matt Hancock.

While the previous series' launch episode attracted a consolidated audience of nearly 12 million, this year's launch has only been watched by seven million in its first week.

Other campmates this year include Made In Chelsea's Sam Thompson, First Dates star Fred Sirieix, YouTuber Nella Rose and actor Nick Pickard.

A few days after entering camp, the group was joined by jockey Frankie Dettori and former professional boxer Tony Bellew.