Emotions are running high across the nation, following the announcement that Sue Perkins and Mel Giedroyc will not continue to host The Great British Bake Off when it moves from the BBC to Channel 4 next year.
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The TV chief used the recent move of Formula One from the BBC to Channel 4 as an example of its “good track record on protecting and growing the shows viewers love”.
The pair released a joint statement to reveal the news, in which they said they are “not going with the dough”. In a statement, the pair said they were “shocked and saddened” that “Bake Off” was leaving the BBC.
The show kicked off with the two of them throwing around some potential names for the hot TV gig before they declared: “We are in the mix at 100/1 and we can officially announce…”
“The BBC nurtured the show from its infancy and helped give it its distinctive warmth and charm, growing it from an audience of two million to almost 15 at its peak”.
“We’ve had the most awesome time on Bake Off, and have loved seeing it rise and rise like a pair of yeasted Latvian baps. It’s NOT going to be us!”
“We’re talking about a range of things including the overall shape of the presenting team”, said a source.
The celebrity chef has previously spoken about how much he’d love to be a judge on the hugely popular baking programme, telling Now magazine: “We watch Bake Off”.
Lord Prescott tweeted: “I predict Bake Off moving from BBC to Channel 4 will be the ultimate showstopper”.
The programme looks to be in crisis after it was revealed that there will be no series next year, and co-hosts Mel and Sue won’t be following the programme to its new home.
The question is now whether judges Paul Hollywood and Mary Berry will stick around to see the program through its upcoming switch.
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The fourth episode of the show reached an average audience of 10.3 million on Wednesday evening, just below the 10.4 million who watched the series seven opener and considerably more than the 9.7 million who tuned in last week. Under the BBC’s guidance, the show also grow from a meager audience of 2 million to almost 15 million at its peak, the statement noted. “GBBO is a quintessentially BBC programme”.
