Bake Off Mel’s agony over death of dad she idolised
THE Great British Bake off ’ s former presenter mel Giedroyc, who has declared that ‘family is everything to me’, has been left devastated after the death of her beloved father.
michal Giedroyc, a Polish aristocrat sent to forced labour in Siberia by the invading Soviet army in 1939, has died ‘suddenly’ at the age of 88.
‘Dad has instilled in me a need to make my mark in life,’ said mel, who has a long-standing comedy partnership with Sue Perkins, her former Bake off co-host. ‘I have a strong need to achieve things for myself and I think that comes from him. He and I have a lot in common. We’re as tough as old boots and both have a good sense of humour.’
mel, 49, was deeply moved when her father wrote a poignant memoir in 2010 about his struggles as a refugee during World War II.
michal, whose own father was a senator and a judge, was ten years old in 1939 when the russian police seized his home and imprisoned his dad. He was flung on to the streets with his mother and two sisters.
Transported in cattle trucks to Siberia, they were forced to work on a farm with other refugees until 1941, when Soviet leader Stalin released all Polish deportees.
The family, who were said to be on the brink of death, escaped and began a long journey to england. They later
discovered that Michal’s father was shot dead in 1941.
‘Dad lost all material possessions, but maintained a deep sense of who he was,’ said Mel, who lives in Ealing, West London, with her husband Ben Morris, a television director, and their two daughters.
‘That has been passed on to me along with a strong pride about where I come from.’
Michal read aeronautical engineering at Southampton University before going on to design aeroplanes in Hong Kong. Before Mel was born, he moved back to Britain and worked as a civil engineer.
A spokesman for the family described Michal as a ‘ beloved husband’ to his widow, Rosemary, and ‘adored grandfather’.