Great British cock-up!
New judge Prue leaks name of winner 12 hours before final airs
IT HAD been kept a closely-guarded secret for three months, with the presenters, bakers and countless production staff all being careful not to let anything slip.
But the result of The Great British Bake Off final was monumentally leaked ahead of last night’s final…by none other than the show’s new judge Prue Leith.
The 77-year-old suffered a Halloween nightmare yesterday morning, when she ‘f***** up’ and accidentally revealed that Sophie Faldo had won the show, around 12 hours before the final was broadcast.
The veteran food writer, who was on holiday in Bhutan, got ‘confused by the time difference’ and posted a message on social media congratulating the ex-Army officer, 34.
Thinking that the final had already aired on Channel 4, she wrote: ‘No one told me judging a GBBO final would be so emotional. I wanted them all to win. Bravo Sophie.’
News of the blunder quickly spread, and while the tweet was deleted ‘in minutes’ many fans said that it had ‘ruined’ the final for them. Others pointed out that Channel 4, which paid £75million for a three-year deal for the show, had only just renewed her contract, which is thought to be about £200,000 a series. Miss Leith took to Twitter to apologise, saying: ‘I am so sorry to the fans of the show for my mistake this morning, I am in a different time zone and mortified by my error #GBBO.’
Speaking from Bhutan, where she is with her husband, John Playfair, she added: ‘The time difference is massive. I thought that they got it six hours ago. I’m in too much of a state to talk about it. I f***** up.’
A source said: ‘Prue is absolutely mortified for the fans, it was a genuine mistake. She just got confused with the time changes in Bhutan and thought it was all over..’
It is thought there will be no ramifications for Miss Leith, however last night betting company Betway announced that Prue Leith was now ‘evens to get the boot’. One frustrated fan wrote: ‘Oh my GOD Prue accidentally leaking the result of #GBBO early makes me feel better about every mistake I’ve ever made in life.’
Several fans took aim at Miss Leith, saying that former judge Mary Berry would have ‘never’ done that. However, the 81-year-old did actually make a similar error during the 2015 series, when she revealed on Chris Evans’s Radio 2 show that Dorret Conway had been eliminated before the episode was on TV.
Ahead of last night’s final, the series has drawn an average of 5.5million viewers.
Miss Faldo, of Surrey, who has also trained to be a ballet dancer and stuntwoman, said: ‘I never ever dreamed I would get to the final, let alone winning, so I am not sure where I will go from here. It would be wonderful to write a patisserie book, but let’s see what comes my way. I would like to try travelling the world for inspiration for starters!’