‘Bake Off fans compare me less often with Mary Berry’

THE Great British Bake Off judge Prue Leith has said now she gets fewer comments comparing her to Mary Berry than she used to.

Leith replaced Berry as a judge in the popular baking show in 2017 when it moved from the BBC to Channel 4, and she is returning for her second stint in the tent for the new series along with Paul Hollywood.

The chef and cookery writer joked that she has enjoyed being approached by Bake Off fans over the past year, because she is an “egotist” who likes the attention. She said: “It’s always quite funny... now people just say, ‘I love the show, I love Bake Off, I think you’re wonderful’ or a straightforward compliment, and that just makes me feel wonderful.

“But I used to get far more of, ‘I really love Mary Berry! I’ve always loved Mary Berry and I just didn’t want to like you’.

“And you wait for it, and you wait... and then they say that you’re all right and that it’s survived the change.”

Bread expert Hollywood, who was criticised by some fans for sticking with the show when it was sold to Channel 4 while Berry and presenters Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins quit, said that fans now give him a “knowing nod”. He added: “They say, ‘nice one Paul’.”

Leith and Hollywood return for their second outing on Channel 4 along with presenters Noel Fielding and Sandi Toksvig in the new series.

The pair have insisted the show is still the same as it was before, because it remains focused on one thing: the bakers.

Hollywood said: “Nothing has really changed, because actually, when you take the framework out, what you’re left with is the bakers.

“The feeling this year was exactly the same, it’s got such a warm feeling.”

Among the 12 new amateur bakers hoping to be crowned the winner are a blood courier, a civil servant and house and techno DJ and a retired air steward.

There will also be a banker, a mental health specialist and a research scientist battling it out across three Bake Off challenges in each episode.

Leith said she is “amazed” at the mix of people chosen for this year’s series.

“It almost looks as if the company chooses the bakers for their personality, because they’re always different, they’re always interesting,” she said.

“But they don’t. They choose them for the best bakers they can find.”