Prue Leith hits back at Sandi Toksvig's comments about 'boring' GBBO

07 February 2024 , 10:52

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Prue Leith has hit out at a former co-star (Image: Channel 4)

The Great British Bake Off's Prue Leith has become embroiled in a heated war of words with a former co-star.

The cookery writer and presenter has appeared on the programme since March 2017 having replaced Mary Berry when the show moved to Channel 4. Since joining, she's seen a string of co-stars exit the show, with many often praising the baking competition which is filmed in a sprawling gazebo tent.

But former presenter Sandi Toksvig - who stepped down as a presenter in 2020 - has previously hit out at the show and branded it "boring", which Prue has taken offence to.

It comes after Sandi branded the show 'boring' (mirror.co.uk)

Prue, 83, said: "I don't think Sandi was so bored because she and I shared a wonderful green room in this posh house, which was where we filmed Bake Off and which was in the library." She went on to tell Times Radio: "And so we had this wonderful selection of books and she would knit little figures and dress them beautifully. Did you know she's a knitter? She sells [them] for charity. So she made lots of those. She wrote a few scripts. She did a lot of other things."

Reacting to Sandi's comments adding that they were "heavy" and her "watching meringue dry" was intended to be a joke but had been misconstrued. "I mean, I can see that for some people as clever as Sandi watching meringue dry is perhaps a bit heavy, but I think she just liked the joke. I don't think she was really bored."

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Speaking about her time on the programme last month, Sandi told Radio Times: "To be honest, I left Bake Off because I stopped having fun. I was literally standing there watching meringues dry and thinking, 'Oh my God, my brain is atrophying'. So after three years, I thought, 'That'll do, go and do something else!'" before adding that while it was a "nice pay cheque" she was more than happy enough to move on.

However, Sandi later admitted that she's no longer in contact with her former co-stars and hasn't watched the show since her exit. In a more shocking twist, the broadcaster later explained she doesn't actually like cake and would much prefer somebody to make The Great British Cheese Off.

At the time of her exit, sources said she had "desperately wanted to leave" for a sustained period of time. They added: "As time went on Sandi seemed to be enjoying it less and less and just didn't want to get involved. She spent most of her time hiding out in what looked like a bijou shepherd's hut she'd had set up, knitting on her own — and quite often grumbling about it all."

Daniel Bird