Comedy duo Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders reportedly turned down a hefty offer to take on presenting duties on the new series of ‘Great British Bake Off’, which will make its Channel 4 debut later this year.
According to the Mail On Sunday, the pair were offered as much as £2.5 million to front the new series of the baking show, but an insider has claimed they turned it down flat, suggesting no amount of money would have changed their minds.
A source said: “They were the top of the list to replace Mel and Sue. They absolutely would have brought in the viewers but it wasn’t to be.
In October last year, Jennifer blasted reports that she and Dawn were being “lined up” for the new series as “absolute bollocks”.
Similarly, weeks later Dawn said that she was “absolutely not” taking on the job, but did say she expected the show would do well in its new home.
Instead, bosses went with the rather unlikely partnership of Sandi Toksvig and Noel Fielding to replace Mel and Sue, who stepped down as presenters of ‘Bake Off’ shortly after Love Productions sold the show to Channel 4.
Sandi and Noel will be joined by returning judge Paul Hollywood on the new series, who has made the jump from the BBC, while Mary Berry will be replaced by cooking expert Prue Leith.
While Prue and Sandi had both been previously rumoured for the show, Noel’s appointment as co-presenter came as a shock to ‘Bake Off’ fans.
While some have debated how he’ll fit into the beloved show, we’ll have to wait until the new series launches on Channel 4 later this year to see what he brings to the table.