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Mary Berry ‘bitten by bed bugs’ after BBC put her up in £25-a-night hotel

Bake Off didn't always have the budget that it has today...

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Dame Mary Berry was reportedly bitten by bed bugs after being put up in a budget hotel.

The TV star, 86, was allegedly attacked by the little critters after she stayed at a £25-a-night hotel at the start of her Bake Off fame.

Mary’s former co-star, Sue Perkins, 52, has revealed that when the show first started out it didn’t have the budget it has now.

As a result, Sue, who previously hosted the series with Mel Giedroyc, 53, said the show started out very differently.

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Mary Berry was allegedly bitten by bed bugs in a budget hotel (Credit: BBC)

Mary Berry ‘bitten by bed bugs’

She told the Full Disclosure Podcast: “Bake Off can only be seen now through the prism of huge success. But we were there at its inception when Barry’s burger vans were the in-house catering when we were in a youth hostel at £25 a night — and Mary Berry got bed bugs.

The BBC has been approached for comment.

However, that wasn’t all, according to Sue.

She went on to share that even the tone of the show changed as the BBC initially struggled to settle on its tone.

Read more: Great British Bake Off fans want 2021 star Lizzie to replace Matt Lucas as host

Sue revealed that the beloved programme originally started as an education-based format. However, it eventually became the reality show battle of talent it is nowadays.

Mary berry bake off
Sue Perkins confessed that the show took some time to find its feet (Credit: SplashNews)

“We would spend 16 or 17 hours a day interviewing people in the tent who were Anglo Saxon experts about why they’d put rabbit’s feet in a sponge in the 12th Century.

“But it evolved hugely from the intense documentary about foodstuffs into the beloved programme it is now,” added the comedian.

“We had a make-up artist who painted a mulberry, purple sort of colour lipstick on me in one series. I looked like I’d been dragged from a riverbank, I looked like a mottled corpse on Casualty.”

Mel and Sue originally presented Bake Off.  The judges also consisted of Paul Hollywood and Mary before the show moved over to Channel 4.

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