Is Bele off safe in this man's hands?
A REFORMED caner with a taste for surreal comedy and outrageous outfits is to be the new host of The Great British Bake Off.
Comic Noel Fielding will present the hit show alongside Sandi Toksvig on Channel 4.
But Bake Off fans expecting the gentle chuckles and innuendo of Mel and Sue may be in for a shock with Noel, who is famed for his off-the-wall sense of humour, at the helm.
His previous creations include fashion plate zookeeper Vince Noir, Tony Harrison the pink head with tentacles and the terrifying greenskinned Hitcher, who wore a Polo mint over his eye.
Noel, 43, was also a member of the notorious Camden Caners set, alongside the likes of Amy Winehouse and Pete Doherty, and admits to taking drugs and partying too hard.
His Never Mind The Buzzcocks co-star Phill Jupitus once described him as “a gothic George Best”.
Noel says: “You get well known and you get famous or you’re a celebrity and you sort of run around for a bit and it’s like it’s your birthday every day.
“You get invited to all these parties, all the drinks are free, there’s loads of freebies and it’s very exciting … for about five minutes.”
Born to two teenage parents, he admits to hating school and feeling out of place until he went to art college and met people who liked wearing wacky clothes and make-up.
After graduating, he started doing stand-up and met fellow comedian Julian Barratt.
Surreal
The pair discovered they were both into the same surreal humour and came up with the idea for The Mighty Boosh.
It starting off as TV sketches, going up to the Edinburgh Festival and transferring to radio then TV.
The Mighty Boosh ran for three series on BBC Three and followed the misadventures of eccentric Vince Noir and jazz-loving Howard Moon.
The pair were whisked off to outer space, encountered bizarre characters such as the Crack Fox and merman Old Gregg, invented a new music craze called crimping and unleashed a granshaped evil demon.
There was a live tour, after which the duo split.
“We were sick of each other,” explains Noel.
“We didn’t have a day off in 10 years – it was like being in The Beatles.” He went on to pen his own series for E4, Noel Fielding’s Luxury Comedy, which was panned by critics and axed after two series. He was a captain on Never Mind The Buzzcocks until it was cancelled and, since then, he has mainly been seen as a panellist on The Big Fat Quiz. Noel is as famous for his fashion sense and lifestyle as his comedy. Nothing is too outrageous, whether it’s a red-cloaked zombie king, sparklygloved