They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, although we’ll leave it to Prue Leith and Paul Hollywood to decide if this pic of their Great British Bake Off colleagues Noel Fielding and Sandi Toksvig dressed up as them is actually, you know, flattering.
Prepare yourselves, readers…
Yeeaaah, we’re not entirely sure we’d describe the likeness as uncanny.
The presenting duo – who return for their third outing as GBBO hosts when the new series kicks off on 27 August – told Radio Times they have been dying to dress up as Prue and Paul ever since they joined the show two and a half years ago.
Noel even managed to nick a pair of Prue’s specs for added realism.
“I’m allergic to the beard,” Sandi told the mag. “But a good joke’s a good joke, right?”
And apparently, Prue and Paul did actually see the funny side
“Prue understood my vibe immediately because she has hung out with Mick Jagger and Warren Beatty,” Noel says.
“She rocked the 70s. She’s lived an amazing life.”
The pair also insisted Paul is softer and sweeter in real life than his on-screen presence would have you believe.
“He’s a giggler,” Sandi said. “People don’t know that about him.”
“He’s a lovely man,” added Noel. “If you were in trouble, you could pick up the phone to him and he would be there in five minutes flat.”
Sandi and Noel say it has taken until this year’s series – filmed over the summer summer, as it has been since 2014, in the famous tent in Welford Park, Berkshire – to truly relax into their roles.
“The first year was very tense,” admits Noel. “The pressure was scary. We needed it to work as the whole nation loved the show. We just wanted to get through it alive.
“The second year we relaxed slightly.”
Sandi agrees, adding: “This year it’s gone to how it should be. It’s been more fun this year. More relaxed.”
And despite being surrounded by tempting treats for the last three summers, they admit that they still aren’t fans of cake.
“I would rather look at something beautiful than eat something,” Noel says. “I’m more about the ears and eyes than mouth and nose. But my girlfriend [radio presenter Lliana Bird] is the opposite, and is angry that I don’t care. She says it’s ridiculous that I’m on the biggest baking show and I don’t even eat the food.”
The new series of The Great British Bake Off will return to Channel 4 on Tuesday 27 August at 8pm.
Read the full interview with Noel and Sandi in this week’s Radio Times, out now. https://www.radiotimes.com/news/