Bake Off to weight off: Dame Mary ‘careful’ not to indulge

DAME Mary Berry has admitted she is “careful” with her body weight to avoid people accusing her of only cooking fattening foods.

Speaking at the BFI and Radio Times Television Festival yesterday, Dame Mary said she is “aware of what’s good for me” but eats “a bit of everything”.

“I am careful, because if I was enormous I think people would say I only cook fattening foods,” Dame Mary told the audience at BFI Southbank.

The 87-year-old was made a Dame Commander in late 2021 for a culinary career spanning more than 50 years.

She became a household name thanks to her role as a judge, alongside Paul Hollywood, in The Great British Bake Off.

Speaking to TV presenter Claudia Winkleman after being inducted into the Radio Times Hall of Fame, Dame Mary said she was “very thrilled and honoured”.

Her first cookbook, The Hamlyn All Colour Cookbook, was published in 1970 and she has written more than 50 others which have sold millions of copies.

Asked “one thing” that the audience should learn to cook to benefit them, Dame Mary urged schools to teach children how to cook “nutritious” meals.

In her latest BBC One series, Mary Berry’s Fantastic Feasts, she comes to the rescue of novice cooks hoping to impress a loved one with a lavish meal.