Mary Berry falls flat on US TV debut

MARY Berry’s foray into American television got a lukewarm reception after some viewers branded her new cookery show a cheap imitation of The Great British Bake Off.

Others were underwhelmed by the skills of the six contestants when The Great Holiday Baking Show made its debut on ABC. Miss Berry, pictured on the show, was criticised for her use of Americanisms such as ‘awesome’. The amateur bakers are American but the format is lifted from the BBC hit and the show is filmed in the UK in the same tent. But Paul Hollywood, Sue Perkins and Mel Giedroyc are missing.

Miss Berry, 80, shares judging duties with US pastry chef Johnny Iuzzini, while the programme is presented by My Big Fat Greek Wedding actress Nia Vardalos and her husband Ian Gomez, star of drama Cougar Town.

Hollywood appeared on The American Baking Competition on CBS in 2013 but it was axed after one season due to poor ratings. Although Miss Berry’s show on Monday night won an impressive audience of 6.3million, viewers took to Twitter with criticism.

One wrote: ‘#HolidayBakingShow is a terrible knock- off. Way to ruin a good show America.’ Another commented: ‘Mary Berry just said “That cookie is awesome”. So wrong but hilarious.’

The Great British Bake Off has been popular in America on the network PBS Food, and one viewer of the US show posted: ‘Dear BBC, thank you for sending Mary Berry, but can you please send the rest of the @BritishBakeOff team?’