‘I want a Hollywood handshake’
Carol Vorderman and Kelly Brook roll up their sleeves and get competitive in their bid to avoid a soggy bottom…
FCAROL, 59: I’m not up to the standards of some, but I can bake. I grew up in Wales and I would win in the baking category year after year at the school Eisteddfod.
KELLY, 40: I would probably rate myself a six out of ten.
A bit better than average, but I’m not amazing.
Do you have a signature dish?
CAROL: Not at all, no. KELLY: We basically have banana bread at home all the time, so I just do that…
Have you had any disasters?
CAROL: Oh, millions. Part of the problem is that I don’t really eat cake. Fish I can do, and I’m very good at a salad!
KELLY: All my cooking is pretty much a disaster, in terms of the state of the kitchen.
Who taught you how to bake?
CAROL: My mum couldn’t cook, so it was the cookery teacher at school in North Wales – a nun called Sister Barbara. I went to a Catholic comp and got Grade A in cookery back in the ’70s.
KELLY: I taught myself, and now I just make things I like to eat. I’ll give stuff a try – though I never really follow a recipe.
Are you a fan of GBBO?
CAROL: I am! I catch it whenever I can, but I don’t always get a chance – and I don’t watch much telly at all. I’m even thinking about taking the Internet out of the house.
KELLY: I think Bake Off is amazing – I love it!
Who do you want to impress the most? Paul or Prue?
CAROL: Actually, I want to impress Noel [Fielding, 46]. I love him! He genuinely has no idea about baking, whereas Sandi [Toksvig, 61] and I have a good chat, as we’re both Cambridge graduates of the same generation.
KELLY: Prue is very sweet, and she’s always trying to give you sneaky little tips. Whenever I’ve said to anyone that I’m doing Bake Off, they always talk about the Hollywood Handshake. That’s been drummed into me, so the pressure is really on. They can say your bake is good, but unless you get the Handshake, you don’t really know….
Who do you see as your biggest competition?
CAROL: I’ve known Kelly for a while and I think she’s going to be really good. But this doesn’t feel like a competition – it’s too much fun for that. Rob [Rinder, 41] and Mo [Gilligan, 32] are both hilarious. Rob’s on the table behind me and he keeps saying
I’m going to turn him straight.
I’m not holding out much hope, but I do adore him!
KELLY: I think Carol Vorderman – being a mathematician – is probably my biggest threat. I reckon she’ll just smash the technical challenge.
Did you practise?
CAROL: I did one practice. I decided to make a Welsh cake for my signature dish, because Wales is important to me.
Why are you supporting SU2C?
CAROL: Most of us have been affected by cancer one way or another. I’m here to celebrate the research that has been done – it gave me 20 more years with my mum. She got her first cancer nearly 20 years before she died.
KELLY: My father passed away from cancer in 2007. Whenever there’s an opportunity to do anything to raise awareness, it’s always something I will really go out of my way to be a part of...