Dessert

Why the New "Great British Bake Off" Host Won't Eat Cake

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August  7, 2017
2 Comments

Last week, it was the trailer, this week it’s the host. The upcoming season of "The Great British Bake Off" is proving to be no stranger to the headlines.

The New "Great British Bake Off" Trailer Is Delightfully Bizarre

The New "Great British Bake Off" Trailer Is Delightfully Bizarre

In an interview with The Sunday Times, Noel Fielding, British comedian and future host of the show's new season, announced he would be abstaining from any sugar consumption during filming: "I get more work when I'm thinner. So I can't put on weight. No one likes a tubby gut is what I'm saying."

He also said, "I don’t eat anything, I’m like a plant. It’s not that I don’t like cake—I have a very sweet tooth. But I was playing [the American singer] Alice Cooper and I had to lose a stone, so I wasn’t eating sugar. You can’t just get straight back onto sugar, as it’s quite a powerful thing."

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A baking show host who doesn’t eat baked goods is confusing and fans of the show were understandably upset. This development is only the newest in a string of changes surrounding the premiere of the upcoming season. Along with the show moving from the BBC to Channel 4, the cast will undergo some reshuffling. Sandi Toksvig will join Fielding as co-host while the judges panel bids goodbye to Mary Berry and welcomes Prue Leith.

In response to the interview, and the corresponding outrage, Fielding took to Twitter to address his statements.

So it seems the host will be eating cake, after all. We can all relax.

The show is slated to premiere on its new network this fall. But I doubt this is the last we will be hearing about it before then.

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Valerio Farris

Written by: Valerio Farris

Valerio is a freelance food writer, editor, researcher and cook. He grew up in his parent's Italian restaurants covered in pizza flour and drinking a Shirley Temple a day. Since, he's worked as a cheesemonger in New York City and a paella instructor in Barcelona. He now lives in Berlin, Germany where he's most likely to be found eating shawarma.

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2 Comments

Kelly F.
Kelly F. August 8, 2017
Not particularly concerned about whether or not he'll eat cake- where is that mint chocolate cake recipe that's shown on FB?! bon dieu
 
AntoniaJames
AntoniaJames August 9, 2017
That's Martha Collison's Ice Cream Cake: http://www.waitrose.com/home/recipes/recipe_directory/m/martha-collison-sminticecreamcake.html At age 17, if i remember correctly, she was the youngest contestant ever when she competed in Season 5 (I don't recall what season that was in the US), and made it to the quarter finals. Martha made that cake for her sister's 15th birthday. I understand that it is now featured in her first cookbook, "Twist." Lovely girl - smart and imaginative, too. Seriously, can you imagine competing in the GBBO while studying and taking AS level exams? ;o)