Bake Off fans ‘are finally getting over losing Mary’
GREAT British Bake Off judge Prue Leith revealed yesterday she is finally starting to get fewer comparisons to Mary Berry.
Prue replaced Mary, 83, as a judge on the popular show when it controversially moved from the BBC to Channel 4 last year.
But speaking before last night’s first show of the new series, Prue, 79, who is returning for her second stint along with Paul Hollywood, said she hoped she was now making the role her own.
The veteran cookery writer said she has enjoyed being approached by Bake Off fans over the past year because she was an “egotist” who liked attention.
Prue 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 then they say that you’re all right and that it’s survived the change.”
During last night’s show, French software project manager Manon Lagreve, 26, was named Star Baker while Imelda McCarron, 33, from Northern Ireland, was the first to leave the tent.
Paul had been criticised by some fans for sticking with the show when it went to Channel 4, while Mary and presenters Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins quit.
However, he said fans now give him a “knowing nod”. He added: “They say, ‘Nice one Paul’.”
Prue and Paul, who were joined last night by presenters Noel Fielding and Sandi Toksvig, insist the show is still the same as before because it remains focused on the bakers.
Paul said: “Nothing has really changed because, when you take the framework out, what you’re left with is the bakers. The feeling this year was exactly the same.”
Among the 12 new amateur bakers hoping to be crowned the winner are a blood courier, a civil servant, a DJ and a retired air steward. There is also a banker, a mental health specialist and a research scientist battling it out across three Bake Off challenges in each episode.
Ms Leith said she was “amazed” at the mix of people in this year’s series. She said: “It looks as if the company chooses the bakers for their personality, but they don’t.
“They choose them for the best bakers they can find.”
The new series opened with a playful reference to Prue accidentally revealing last year’s winner hours before the final was shown on TV.
Prue was in Bhutan when she tweeted congratulations to Bake Off champion Sophie Faldo – but forgot about the time difference.