Grace Dent has told her fellow campmates that her “heart is broken” after leaving the set of I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here early.

The restaurant critic, 50, was spotted at Brisbane Airport on Monday after exiting the ITV reality show early “on medical grounds“.

She had been due to face the bushtucker trial, Down The Tubes, in Monday night’s instalment.

Instead, Hollyoaks actor Nick Pickard read out a statement to the camp in which Dent announced that she was leaving early.

“My dear campmates, I’m so sorry to let you down. I have left the camp for medical reasons,” she said in her statement.

“My heart is broken, I have loved and enjoyed getting to know you all. You’ve held me up and it’s been a pleasure being your friend through this experience.

“Leaving you all at this stage will be one of the saddest things in my life. I love you all. Your friend, Miss Grace Dent.”

In a statement, a spokesperson said: “She has been a great campmate and will be missed by her fellow celebrities and viewers alike.”

Dent had said, before facing the Touchdown Of Terror trial, that she was struggling in the jungle.

The MasterChef star told campmate Josie Gibson last week: “I’ve had enough. I’ve completely had enough. I just want to go home.”

Dent, who has written restaurant reviews for The Guardian and Evening Standard, had been due to face the next trial, named Down The Tubes, with This Morning announcer Gibson.

EastEnders star Danielle Harold took her place in the trial as she had the next highest amount of votes from the public.

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Also in the episode, it was revealed that TV star Sam Thompson had been voted camp leader. He chose JLS star Marvin Humes as his deputy.

Among this year’s I’m A Celebrity campmates are the controversial politician Nigel Farage, First Dates star Fred Sirieix and Britney Spears’ sister Jamie Lynn.

The show has so far attracted a lower audience than last year’s series, which featured former health secretary Matt Hancock.

This year’s launch was watched by seven million people in its first week – down from a consolidated audience of nearly 12 million last year.

Ahead of entering the jungle this year, Dent said: “Everything is filling me with a real sense of dread. But I am especially dreading being really hungry because I tend to eat four or five posh meals out a week because I am a restaurant critic.”

She said she signed up for the show after “a really difficult time over the last four or five years”.