If you're craving comforting TV series as well as the latest Netflix hits during the COVID-19 pandemic, today brings some encouraging news. One of the UK's best loved shows, The Great British Bake Off, hasn't been written off yet.
Judges Prue Leith and Paul Hollywood were due to start shooting the new series in the spring with Matt Lucas joining Noel Fielding in the famous Bake Off tent after Sandi Toksvig stepped down last year.
However, production was postponed when Prime Minister Boris Johnson placed the UK into lockdown in late-March.
Asked on The Andrew Marr Show on Sunday morning whether this year's series could still go ahead, Prue Leith said optimistically: "I really hope so, everybody's hoping so, but we're all waiting for Boris to tell us what we're allowed to do and what we're not allowed to do."
AdvertisementADVERTISEMENT
"Certainly it's impossible at the moment because there are really a lot of people on set, but I'm sure they'll find a way as soon as they can," she added.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to announced a "road map" for how the UK can gradually move out of lockdown during an address to the nation at 7pm on Sunday evening. This might dictate how and when The Great British Bake Off could be filmed before its usual autumn run on Channel 4.
Asked whether she will still be a part of the show if it does return, 80-year-old Leith added: "Absolutely, I'd be very upset if somebody kicked me off. Last year I did Junior Bake Off and senior Bake Off. Whether or not I'd be able to do both this time I just don't think there's enough time in the year."
Leith has been part of the show since 2017, when she replaced Mary Berry as Bake Off moved from BBC One to Channel 4.
AdvertisementADVERTISEMENT