Mary Berry says Prue Leith is "just the person" for Bake Off
The former judge gave her successor her blessing
Mary Berry has given Great British Bake Off judge Prue Leith her seal of approval, singing the praises of her GBBO successor.
Berry, who bowed out of the hit TV series after it moved from the BBC to Channel 4, said that if anyone was going to step into her judging role Leith was “just the person to do it. She knows that.
“I suppose if they’d chosen somebody who I knew couldn’t do the job and hadn’t the experience, I would have been sad”, Berry told the Press Association. “But I’m certainly not with Prue, she knows how to judge. She’s got the knowledge and she’s fair. That’s all we ask.”
That'll be music to the ears of Leith, who admitted she thought twice about replacing the Bake Off favourite and even wore a "what would Mary Berry say?" apron on set. Sadly she was told to remove it during filming.
She did manage to sneak in one of the series best innuendos, though.
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Former judge Berry has been kept busy with TV projects since her departure from the baking competition and still stands by her decision to call it quits alongside hosts Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins.
“I’ve done it for 10 years and for various reasons I didn’t go”, she explained.
It doesn’t sound as though she’s been meeting up for coffees and cake with her former judging panel pal Paul Hollywood, but Berry says she’s still very fond of the male judge.
“I haven’t seen Paul but we’ve done a lot together and I’d be very happy if he walked in the door right now”, Berry said. “We’d have some good fun and he’d be a bit cheeky I expect and say ‘hello Bezza!’.”
And Bezza’s not ready to stop having fun any time soon either, brushing aside queries about slowing down or putting her feet up after all these years making our tummies rumble on TV.
“Why should I retire?” she said. “My husband says you should just do what you enjoy. He’s always pleased to see me when I’m not working. No, it works well as it is.”
The Great British Bake Off continues on Channel 4 on Tuesdays at 8pm
