BAKING BAD
Using the prime ingredient from the original Great British Bake Off recipe, the BBC hoped Mary Berry’s new show would be another big fat, tasty success.
But the froth of expectation flopped faster than a soggy souffle as just 2.9million viewers tucked into the first episode of Britain’s Best Home Cook last week.
That’s less than half the 7.6million who watched Bake Off when it moved to Channel 4 along with Berry’s old sidekick, the bad boy of buns Paul Hollywood.
Could it be that all sugar and no spice is not so nice for viewers’ jaded palates – and that the twinkly-eyed master baker was the crucial leavening after all?
Sex and relationship expert Dr Pam Spurr says Paul, 52, is the naughty-but-nice one that viewers can’t get enough of.
“Paul is highly charismatic, and that’s a feature most bad boys have – that’s very attractive to be around,” she says. “They are like magnets for female attention. Along with charisma, there is often sexual chemistry that underlies that, which is very powerful. “The fact he’s a baker, and he can cook yummy food, makes you think: ‘Wow. This person may actually be able to satisfy our sexual hunger, as well as our actual hunger’.” But sweet-natured Mary, 83, may too predictable for viewers, adds Dr Spurr. “When you’re watching Paul on screen, it’s a bit of a guessing game,” she says. “You don’t know what he’s going to say or do next, so it’s sets up an expectation with viewers that you’re never going to get with someone like Mary. “She’s that steady, grounding influence, and he’s the one who’s going to go: ‘Pow!’ ” Paul’s charms have bagged him a 22-year-old barmaid, Summer Monteys-Fullam, since he split from his wife Alex, 53, after nearly 20 years together.
Mary’s the steadying influence, Paul’s the one who’s going to go: ‘Pow!’
DR PAM SPURR SEX AND RELATIONSHIP EXPERT ON THE BAKE OFF EX-PARTNERS
Forgiving Alex had previously taken Paul back after he had an affair with US chef Marcela Valladolid, 39, while the pair filmed The American Baking Competition together in 2013.
Paul, worth a reported £10million, was also spotted giving Bake Off winner Candice Brown, 33, what seemed like an intimate kiss last November – but they denied any romance.
All this seemed to feed his reputation as a ladies’ man, but fans weren’t put off.
They were furious, though, when he took £1.2million to follow Bake Off when it left the Beeb for Channel 4 – while fellow judge Mary and presenters Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins refused to go Despite this he has had success on the revamped show, with comedians Sandi Toksvig and Noel Fielding and expert Prue Leith, 78 – who said she was offered three times Mary’s pay on the show.
And Channel 4 bosses are happy, as it brought them their biggest viewing figures since the since the Paralympics opening ceremony in 2012.
However, publicity expert Jonathan Shalit says it’s the show itself that viewers are loyal to, rather than its stars.
“Bake Off is a great format, it’s brilliant. That’s what people love,” says Jonathan, chairman of InterTalent Rights Group.
“It’s not about Mary or Paul. If Mary had been presenting Bake Off on Channel 4, and Paul had stayed at the BBC, the ratings would’ve been the same. It doesn’t matter which channel it’s on.”
And he reckons the move was the right thing for Paul at the time.
“Changing channels and formats – and dealing with the controversy and stress that comes with that – is a young person’s game, one that was right for Paul at his stage of life,” he says. “Mary is at a different stage of her life.”
So why has the baking queen’s latest show, hosted with Claudia Winkleman, failed to make toast of its rival?
After all, Paul’s other ventures haven’t taken off quite so fantastically.
His show Paul Hollywood: A Baker’s Life cooked up just 1.2million viewers for Channel 4 last year.
PR agent Mark Bukowski says the original recipe was so successful, even Mary can’t replicate the flavour in anything that follows.
“Coming up with new formulas, like Mary’s new show, is really tough,” he says.
“Sometimes it’s better if things are just discovered out of nowhere.
“There’s an assumption from the BBC that Mary will always bring the viewers with her – and if this latest show had been her first outing, she wouldn’t have had the same level of criticism. There’s this huge expectation and pressure to do as well as the original show.”
Bake Off spin-offs have also failed to bring as much success to C4 as the original show did for the Beeb in its heyday, when it pulled in 14million viewers.
But bosses are clearly still hopeful, and the first episode of Bake Off: The Professionals – previously Crème de la Crème – went out last night.
So whether the magic ingredient is a bowlful of Berry, some Hollywood magic or just good old Bake Off, we’re sure to continue to have our fill of them.