I’M OFF! SANDI QUITS BAKE OFF
NOEL Fielding feels “like Tom without Jerry” after his Great British Bake Off sidekick Sandi Toksvig announced she is quitting the series.
The Danish-born host revealed she is leaving after three years to focus on new television projects.
But she stressed that she intends to remain friends with Fielding, as well as judges Prue Leith and Paul Hollywood.
Toksvig, 61, said: “When stepping down from a job, it is quite common for people to say they are doing so in order to spend more time with their family.
“Unusually, I am departing from The Great British Bake Off so I can spend more time with my other work. As my waistline will testify, Bake Off is an all-consuming show.”
Wonderful
And she added: “Spending time with Prue, Paul and Noel has been one of the great pleasures of my life. These are friendships which I know will continue beyond the confines of television.
“Bake Off is a wonderful programme, which has already proved it can happily withstand a change of hosting personnel.”
Fielding, 46, known for his surreal brand of humour, said he would miss Toksvig enormously.
He posted: “I feel like Tom without Jerry, Mick without a Keef. Gonna miss you and the wonderful times we got to play together in the tent.
“Double acts are a rare and magical beast – and working with you was a pleasure.”
Toksvig, who has overseen 51 showstoppers during her time in the tent, already has new Channel 4 shows in the pipeline, including the series The Write Offs, which looks at adult literacy.
She joined Bake Off in 2016 alongside Fielding after former hosts Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins resigned rather than shift with the series when it switched from BBC One.
Channel 4 boss Ian Katz, on a mission to win younger viewers from the likes of Netflix, paid tribute to Toksvig for being “a huge part of why Bake Off moving channels was such a success”.
He added: “We will miss her warmth and wit, not to mention her endless willingness to be the butt of jokes about being the ‘least tall’ person in the Bake Off tent.”
Toksvig will bow out after the charity celebrity version for Stand Up To Cancer in the spring.
Insiders said her replacement is likely to be female with comedy and presenting experience.
Favourites include Jo Brand, Jennifer Saunders, and ex-Gogglebox favourite Scarlett Moffatt.