TV chef Prue Leith has blasted rumours surrounding her appointment as a new judge on the ‘Great British Bake Off’, particularly in relation to reports around how much she’d be earning, as “complete nonsense”.
In the past few weeks, Prue has repeatedly been named as a potential replacement for Mary Berry, following her departure from the show when it was announced that Love Productions had sold it to Channel 4.
While Prue herself sent the rumour mill into overdrive when she admitted to having had meetings with ‘Bake Off’ bosses, she’s now thrown the brakes on fresh speculation, insisting that she is yet to be offered the job.
Following claims she’d be earning three times as much as Mary Berry if she were to take over on ‘Bake Off’, she said (via PA): “I believe I’m about to be paid about a quarter of a million pounds or something and I’ve got a deal. It’s complete nonsense.”
She then added that she’d “not signed any contract”, but did reveal: “I’ve not got the job yet. I hope to have it – I have no idea if I will.”
But while she said she’d be thrilled to bag the job, she did have concerns it could backfire, joking: “It’s a bit scary following Mary, but I don’t want to do a Chris Evans.”
Former ‘Bake Off’ winner Nadiya Hussain previously made a similar comment about the show’s upcoming move, remarking: “I might just watch the first series [on Channel 4] just to criticise a little bit. We just don’t want a repetition of ‘Top Gear’ do we?”
The new series of ‘Bake Off’ is expected to debut on Channel 4 later this year, while it was recently revealed that Nadiya had bagged a new show on the BBC, teaming up with Zoe Ball, Giorgio Locatelli and Rosemary Shrager for ‘The Big Family Cooking Show’.
She was also named the bookies' favourite, more or less as soon as Mel and Sue announced they were stepping down.
On Twitter, hers is the name we keep seeing crop up time and time again, either from people crying out for her to get the job, or pleading with Channel 4 not to give it to her.
In our opinion, it would be a bit too obvious, though, but we'd definitely be in favour of her forming a new double act with runner-up Tamal, with whom she got along like a house on fire in their days on 'GBBO'.
Like Nadiya, he too has managed to bag himself a career in TV, so we wouldn't be surprised if the offer fell at his feet either.
Julian is the undisputed king of innuendo, and his soft-spoken style lends itself perfectly to the 'Bake Off' tent.
He's also become a dab hand at light entertainment since his 'CBB' days, appearing on the panel of 'Your Face Sounds Familiar', as well as fronting 'Nature Nuts' and appearing on 'Give A Dog A Home'.
Hmmm.... maybe not.
Emma must be so stressed out interviewing the stars of 'Celebrity Big Brother' twice a year that we'd be quite happy for her to land a presenting gig that's a bit more... calming.