Comfort Eating with Grace Dent

S6 E2: Michelle de Swarte, comedian

Model-turned-standup Michelle De Swarte knows how to make an entrance. And arriving at Grace’s with her eat-it-or-climb-it comfort snack of choice, she doesn’t disappoint. For the woman who left school at 14, signed as a model at 19, fell on the Gucci catwalk a month later, modelled for years in New York afterwards and then changed tack to become a comedian, life is what you make it. Straight-talking, no-nonsense, Michelle and Grace get down to business and discover their shared dependence on a well-known sandwich chain. There’s glitz, there’s glamour, and quite a lot of rude bits. Sorry, not sorry

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 Guardian food critic and her 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, Mae Martin, Rafe Spall, Nish Kumar, Jon Ronson, Jamie Demetriou, Bridget Christie, Mary McCartney, Keith Brymer Jones, Adjoa Andoh, Tamsin Greig, Tom Kerridge, Suranne Jones 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, laugh out loud, entertaining, humourous, inspirational, hilarious, illuminating, memorable, uplifting, soothing, reassuring, cheery and entertaining. Expect to hear discussion, gossip and revelation.