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Panic stations as Channel 4 producers fail to find GBBO hosts

Could the series be headed for disaster?

Oh dear. There’s trouble at t’mill at Great British Bake Off HQ.

It seems no one wants to accept the job as the main presenters, fearful that they may upset the show’s BBC1 hosts Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins.

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While it appeared easy to find someone to replace the legend that is Mary Berry – er, Prue Leith – it’s proving to be much tougher to find the two people to hold the show together.

Apparently funnyman Josh Widdicombe and Kate Quilton have both been in the frame.

In case you’re not sure who they are, Josh has been a regular on The Last Leg since 2012 while Kate started out as a commissioning editor at the channel and now presents their Superfoods series.

A TV source has supposedly told The Sun that potential hosts are worried about stepping into Mel and Sue’s shoes in case the show fails.

“Channel 4 is gunning to make it the best ever series yet and is trying to sign up huge names,” the cake-loving snitch whispered.

“But talks have stalled as to who will replace Mel and Sue as no one in a small industry wants to be seen to be stepping on their toes.

“Big-name chefs with huge gravitas are all desperate to replace Mary because they have seen what it has done for her brand and career but young presenters are running scared at the idea of upsetting Mel and Sue.

“Kate and Josh fitted the mould of what Love and Channel 4 want in a presenter, but it didn’t work out for one reason or another.

“They are determined to get the best possible presenters they can but they are still a while off yet because so many of the obvious candidates love Bake Off.

“No one wants to be the person who took it on and failed.”

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Concern had been raised about the well-loved TV show after its move from the BBC to Channel 4. Mary Berry and Mel and Sue quit the series leaving just Paul Hollywood as the sole original cast member.

Last weekend,  Sue said she may find it hard to watch the series on its new channel.

“It does sting sometimes that we’re not doing it any more — and of course it’s really sad — but we made our decision and we made it quickly and together,” she said.

“Hand on heart, I don’t know if I’d watch it because that might be a bit weird but that doesn’t mean you don’t want it to succeed.”


Christian Guiltenane
Freelance Writer