Are Susie and Grace Dent related?

Countdown fans have been asking 'Are Susie and Grace Dent related?' - as the Dictionary corner star on the Channel 4 show has the same surname as the broadcaster and author who often critiques on BBC MasterChef.

Grace Dent joined Susie Dent as a guest in Countdown's 'Dictionary Corner' earlier this month and have got Countdown fans wondering if they are related as the women both work on television, have dark hair, and share the same surname.

But while that information alone is not enough to confirm the status of whether they are related or not, it hasn't stopped people from asking Google that very question.

Forget BBC's family tree tracing series Who Do You Think You Are, we look at the women and their careers to find out if they are indeed related to each other...

Are Susie and Grace Dent related?

Countdown's Susie and MasterChef regular critique Grace Dent are not related - despite sharing the same surname.

Grace Dent grew up in Carlisle, whereas Susie grew up in Surrey. And Grace has a brother called Dave but no sisters.

Viewers who tuned in to the show which sees Anne Robinson and Rachel Riley host as contestants race against the clock to pit their wits against vowels, consonants, and numbers will have noticed that Susie was joined by Grace Dent for a few episodes recently.

From 2nd July to 8th July, Susie and Grace appeared on the show together for a total of five episodes, as each week a different personality joins the show.

And Anne has since announced that she is leaving the show.

Grace Dent, who regularly appears as a critique on BBC's Celebrity MasterChef and MasterChef: The Professionals, retweeted a comment which poked fun at the pair being related. It read, 'When Anne realises that @susie_dent and @gracedent share a surname #countdown' and featured a photo of Anne Robinson looking surprised.

But it's not the first time the confusion has happened. Back in 2019 one fan tweeted, 'Are the two of you related by any chance?' on an article in which Grace praised a podcast by Gyles Brandreth and Susie Dent.

She wrote, 'I find that podcasts are so personal, they are actually quite difficult to “sell” to a friend. For example, I love Something Rhymes With Purple presented by Gyles Brandreth and Susie Dent. It’s a podcast about semantics. No, come back. It’s brilliant! Here are two people who love language and take enormous pleasure in discussing how “scurryfunge” means to rush about tidying before guests arrive, or how “pandiculating” is stretching and yawning at the same time. Brandreth, of course, is also a hive of royal anecdotes and eccentric off-topic chat. I have loved him since I was a little girl when he wrote practical joke books, teaching children how to make an apple-pie bed. Now, I can listen in as he and Dent discuss their student days and family lives.'

Where is Susie Dent from?

Susie Dent was born in Woking so she is from Surrey. She studied at the Marist Convent in Ascot, an independent Roman Catholic day school with a term at Eton College where she studied for her Oxbridge entrance exams.

After gaining entry to Somerville College, Oxford, to study for  BA in modern languages, she went on to complete a master's degree in German at Princeton University.

Where is Susie Dent and why isn't she on Countdown this week?

Susie Dent has been missing from her seat in Dictionary Corner on Countdown. Rachel Parris announced she was standing in for the star for the whole week. And while she has been praised for doing a good job, one fan asked, 'I'm fine with most of this (all of it) but Susie Dent is irreplaceable...there must be a public enquiry! Unless she is on holiday. Then it's fine.'

To which Rachel replied, 'Don’t worry, normal service will resume v soon!'

Susie joined the Countdown family back in 1992 and she recently recalled her first episode.

"I worked at Oxford University Press and was asked to go as part of their partnership with the show," she said.

"I still remember my very first show because I look absolutely terrified. I think I even looked a little arrogant, which I really didn't mean to be, sitting beside Rula Lenska."

How many languages does Susie Dent speak?

As English lexicographer, etymologist, and media personality Susie Dent is a native English speaker but she is also fluent in French and German.

Having been the person in 'Dictionary Corner' on Channel 4 show Countdown every year since 1992, including the show's 5,000th episode.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1L8uBzW6hQ

Susie often makes comments on the etymologies of words derived from those two languages.

She has also on occasion been called upon to assist Dictionary Corner guests Geoffrey Durham and Paul Zenon during their magic tricks.

Susie also appears on 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown - which is a post-watershed comedy version of the show presented by Jimmy Carr.

Is Susie Dent single?

Susie Dent is not single - she is married to Primary school teacher Paul Atkins,  and they have two daughters, Lucy, 20, and Thea, 12.

Of spending time with her children, she told Hello magazine, "I'm an early bird, up at six. Morning is mum-time. Lucy, 20, Thea, 12, and I have breakfast - oats, Brazil nuts and seeds, soaked in apple juice and yoghurt - then I walk to school with Thea. We have some of our best chats watching the gossamer float across the fields."

Does Grace Dent have a partner?

No. It doesn't look like Grace Dent has a partner. She is single according to marrieddivorced.com.

-Countdown is on weekdays on Channel 4 at 2.10pm and it is also available to stream on All4.