In a shock move, presenter Sandi Toksvig has announced that she is quitting The Great British Bake Off after the upcoming Stand Up To Cancer episode.
Sandi Toksvig joined the Bake Off line up in 2016 along with Prue Leith and Noel Fielding after Love Productions sold the format to Channel 4 in a reported £75 million pound deal. The show previously aired on the BBC with Sue Perkins and Mel Giedroyc hosting, while Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood judged the bakes.
Paul was the only team member to stick with Bake Off, which caused worry amongst fans, but since being joined by Prue, Sandi and Noel, the show has continued to please audiences, with an around 7.5 million people reported to have tuned into the 2018 finale.
Since joining the team, Noel and Sandi have proved their worth as a winning duo, guiding the bakers through some frankly insane challenges with good humour and gentle support, so it has come as a shock for fans to hear that she is planning to leave the GBBO team.
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Formal announcement
On social media this morning, Sandi detailed her plans to leave the show, stating that she wants to "spend more time with [her] other work". This other work includes her longstanding gig with QI and a forthcoming role as the presenter of a Channel 4 show where illiterate adults take part in a spelling bee.
Her full statement read as follows:
“When stepping down from a job it is quite common for people to say they are doing so in order to spend more time with their family. Unusually I am departing from the Great British Bake Off so I can spend more time with my other work.
As my waistline will testify, Bake Off is an all-consuming show. Spending time with Prue, Paul and Noel has been one of the great pleasures of my life. These are friendships which I know will continue beyond the confines of television. Bake Off is a wonderful programme which has already proved it can happily withstand a change of hosting personnel. The reason for that, of course, is that the true stars of the show are the bakers themselves. I wish everyone well.”
There has been no word yet on who will replace Sandi on the show, so we'll keep you updated. For now, we wish Sandi well and will just have to get our fix of the pint-sized presenter on QI.
