Prue Leith: ‘Paul Hollywood TERRIFIED me when I joined Bake Off’

Great British Bake Off

by Hollie Richardson |
Updated on

Whisks and spatulas at the ready - Great British Bake Off is back

Judges Prue Leith and Paul Hollywood are back for the second series of GBBO to be aired since switching to Channel 4 last year, along with hosts Noel Fielding and Sandi Toksvig.

But Prue has admitted to being scared of her co-host when she first signed up to the show.

She said: "I was doing what I like to do most, which is eating good food - so I was never nervous about the actual job. But I was a bit frightened of Paul Hollywood.

"The way he can be completely silent and stare - it's terrifying."

Prue Leith and Paul Hollywood
©Prue Leith

Now, Paul insists that they get on like a house on fire. And it sounds like he quickly forgot about old pal and baking legend, Mary Berry.

He said: "Literally, within a week, it was perfect. It feels even more relaxed this year. It actually feels like we’ve been working together for years to be honest."

Ouch, we hope Bezza doesn't hear him saying that!

Prue's new role seems to be a hit with her grandchildren, too.

She revealed: "I can’t tell you what it does for my street cred when my grandchildren get stopped in the street and are asked: ‘Are you with the lady from the Bake Off?' You can see the six year old thinking ‘she’s my nan’."

Awww, that's sweeter than a six-tier rainbow cake coated in butter icing.

Prue has also spoken out about THAT tweet she posted, which revealed who the GBBO 2017 winner was 12 hours before the final was aired.

Prue Leith tweet
©Twitter

She laughed: "Do you think anybody’s ever going to stop making jokes about that tweet?”

Great British Bake Off starts on Thursday 28 August at 9pm on Channel 4.

Meet this year's GBBO contestants

Gallery

GBBO 2018 contestants

GBBO contestants1 of 13

GBBO contestants

Rahul GBBO2 of 13
CREDIT: Channel 4

Rahul, 30

Talkative Rahul from Rotherham is a scientist who Skypes his parents every day (yes, he is adorable).

Terry GBBO3 of 13
CREDIT: Channel 4

Terry, 56

Quirky and creative, retired Terry from West Midlands will certainly has a unique style with his bakes.

Antony GBBO4 of 13
CREDIT: Channel 4

Antony, 30

Banker Antony from London will be bringing some serious Indian flavours to his bakes *salivating"

Briony GBBO5 of 13
CREDIT: Channel 4

Briony, 33

Smiley Briony is a full-time mum from Bristol with a flair for creative baking.

Dan GBBO6 of 13
CREDIT: Channel 4

Dan, 36

Full-time dad Dan looks after his two kids in London. He provides one of the most, errr 'comical' bakes in the first showstopper.

Imelda GBBO7 of 13
CREDIT: Channel 4

Imelda, 33

Council worker Imelda is a countryside girl from County Tyrone in Northern Ireland.

Jon GBBO8 of 13
CREDIT: Channel 4

Jon, 47

Blood courier (yep, that's his job title) Jon is from Newport.

Karen GBBO9 of 13
CREDIT: Channel 4

Karen, 60

West Yorkshire born and bred shop assistant Karen is a larger than life character who brings all the lolz to the tent.

Kim-Joy, GBBO10 of 13
CREDIT: Channel 4

Kim-Joy, 27

Cheery Kim-Joy is a mental health specialist from Leeds who proves to be quite the artist in the first episode.

Luke11 of 13
CREDIT: Channel 4

Luke, 30

Civil service worker by day, nightclub DJ by night, Luke is a Sheffield lad with seemingly endless talents.

Manon12 of 13
CREDIT: Channel 4

Manon, 26

French project manager Manon was taught how to cook by her mum and grandma, and now lives in London.

Ruby GBBO13 of 13
CREDIT: Channel

Ruby, 29

Project manager Ruby is from London and infuses Indian flavours into her bakes. Mmmm.

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GBBO
©Channel 4

Paul Hollywood on this year's GBBO challenges

Judge Paul Hollywood has revealed how he has taken challenges 'back to basics' in this year's Bake Off.

He explained: "I wanted to go back to basics to a point because I think last year, with some of the technical challenges, people said to me ‘don’t do that, I’ve never even heard of them’ -which is fair enough, because we want the general public to actually bake.

"So I think some of the challenges are very challenging, and others we just reigned it back a bit."

We wonder if Paul's idea of 'basic' is the same as ours?

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