C4 takes soggy bottoms off the menu

Great British Bake Off’s move from the BBC to Channel 4 looks as if it marks the end of the “soggy bottom” puns.

Fans have been told to expect a “new tone” and “comic riff” when the cult show is aired later this year with the much-loved double entendres off the menu.

As if the loss of Mary Berry (replaced by cookery icon Prue Leith) and Sandi Toksvig and Noel Fielding stepping into the shoes of Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins wasn’t enough.

Channel 4 boss Jay Hunt says she’s “quietly confident” about the series, having seen the first episode. But she warned there were plenty of changes on the way.

She added: “The first thing you think is this is Bake Off but with an extraordinarily high calibre of contributors with a slight Channel 4 feel to it. “The calibre of the baking is absolutely jaw-dropping.” When you consider the only one of the four original characters remaining is (yawn) Paul Hollywood, left, it doesn’t augur well for its future as an entertainment show.