Berry back in the mix to front new BBC cookery show
THE BBC is facing accusations that its new cookery contest is too similar to Channel 4’s rival programme The Great British Bake Off.
Britain’s Best Cook, hosted by Claudia Winkleman, will see amateurs compete to make the best roast potatoes and chicken curry.
Lawyers working for Love Productions, which makes Bake Off, are likely to be watching closely to ensure it does not borrow too freely from its own, hugely successful format which has moved to Channel 4.
A source at Channel 4’s Bake Off told The Sun: “People are calling it the ‘Great British Rip-off ’.”
It has previously accused the BBC of “ripping off ” Bake Off to create new shows, involving the search for the nation’s leading amateur artist and hair stylist. But the BBC insisted Britain’s Best Cook was “entirely different show.”
A second judge will partner Berry on the BBC One series, as Paul Hollywood did on Bake Off. Amid a flurry of negative headlines about the gender pay gap, and a pledge that women will fill half of all on-screen roles by 2020, BBC executives are weighing up an allfemale pairing.
It would provide a counter to Masterchef, the BBC’S other prime-time cooking contest. An all-female lineup would also distinguish the show from The Great British Bake Off. Rather than cakes, Britain’s Best Cook will focus on “dishes that define modern British home cooking” that “people make for their loved ones every day”.
Ten contestants will feature in the series. A BBC source said: “We have two women leading the programme and a casting call has gone out for a second judge. They will be auditioning male and female judges, but an all-female line-up is certainly a possibility.”
Berry, 82, remained loyal to the BBC when The Great British Bake Off moved to Channel 4. Winkleman said she was “over the moon” to be part of the show.
♦ SIR Lenny Henry has called upon the broadcasting watchdog, Ofcom, to force the BBC to adopt diversity targets.