Nadiya to star in BBC cooks show to rival Bake Off
GREAT British Bake Off winner Nadiya Hussain is switching from contestant to presenter for the BBC’s new rival to the show where she made her name.
BBC chiefs are responding to Bake Off’s loss to Channel 4 with a new cookery format.
Nadiya has signed up to front The Big Family Cooking Showdown alongside DJ Zoe Ball in a search for the nation’s best home cooks.
The series, due to start in the autumn, will have chefs Giorgio Locatelli and Rosemary Shrager as judges, the roles that made Bake Off superstars out of Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood.
The BBC’s Showdown will pit 16 families from around Britain against each other, with challenges set in their kitchens at home and at the programme’s studio.
Nadiya, 32, from Luton, who was crowned Bake Off winner in 2015, said family and food “have always gone hand in hand”.
She added: “I’m looking forward to getting to know the recipes and traditions of the different families taking part.
“Having been through a food competition as an amateur cook, I know exactly how tough it can get.
“So I’ll be there for the families, alongside Zoe, as the pressure really builds.”
Zoe, 46, said the show will “celebrate passionate foodie families all over the country, even if it’s using old pans and mismatched crockery”.
She added: “I’m not the world’s best cook, as my kids will vouch, but I’m learning so much from these families and from Nadiya.”
The BBC2 series will have an initial 12, one-hour episodes. Giorgio Georgio Locatelli, Nadiya Hussain, Zoe Ball and Rosemary Shrager on the new show’s set and, right, rival Paul Hollywood, who moved to Channel 4 Locatelli, 53, said: “I strongly believe that cooking at home is at the base of healthy family relationships.
“For Rosemary and I to be given the opportunity to taste people’s family dishes within their home is such an honour.”
Rosemary added: “It’s wonderful to be meeting families with their own recipes and to be judging good honest family food. We will be searching for a household where food is at the heart of their family, with kitchen duties and recipes shared between the generations.”
Channel 4’s version of Bake Off will start later this year.
It will feature Paul Hollywood, 51, but Mary Berry, 81, declined to make the switch from the BBC.