New catchphrase for a new Bake Off: hope it’s worth the calories
TO ENTER the world of The Great British Bake Off is to throw dietary caution to the wind.
But that could all change when the show relaunches on Channel 4, as new judge Prue Leith dismisses below-par bakes with the catchphrase: “It’s not worth the calories.”
Meanwhile, one half of the new presenting team, Noel Fielding, has admitted that he will not be wolfing down the contestants’ creations – as former hosts Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins did each week – because he is careful about his weight. “Sugar is a powerful thing. I get more work when I’m thinner. So I can’t put on weight. No one likes a tubby gut,” he said.
Leith’s new catchphrase, revealed by the Sunday Times, chimes with her assertion that The Great British Bake Off is appealing even to people on diets.
“Even if you don’t allow yourself to eat much cake, you still like drooling over it,” she said. Leith, who will partner Paul Hollywood at the judging table, said she did not accept the Bake Off job immediately. “I really thought twice about accepting Bake Off. I’ve spent my life campaigning about children learning to cook and healthy meals in schools, but I reasoned that, actually, baking is the best way to get people into general cooking. And that’s what we need the nation to do: to get interested in the kitchen,” she said.
In their first joint interview ahead of the show’s comeback, Fielding said the new on-screen team has gelled, “which is odd, as you couldn’t have put more unlikely people together”.
The comedian aimed to reassure viewers that he will not be bringing his surreal flights of fancy to the tent: “Bake Off has a very specific tone and I respect that. You have to come in and not knock the boat.”
Sandi Toksvig, his co-presenter, was asked to name her favourite episode from the BBC series. She replied: “The one where they make cake? I don’t watch a lot of television, I’m more of a reader.” Programme-makers Love Productions, insist that “nothing has changed”, except most of the presenters, judging team, sponsors and adverts.