BBC may launch a rival show to GBBO

Fans who were disappointed that Mary Berry wasn’t going to stay with The Great British Bake Off as it moves to a new channel will be happy to hear that the BBC is planning a new cookery competition starring Berry along with former GBBO co-hosts Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins. Sources state that the BBC have told Berry “that she will be placed at the heart of the corporation’s cookery line-up and will be styled as the broadcaster’s number one television chef until she chooses to retire.” There is also a rumor that former Saturday Kitchen host James Martin is being considered as a replacement for Paul Hollywood on the new cooking program.

The BBC will have to tread carefully as they develop a format for any new competition. Love Productions, which owns the rights to GBBO, accused them of “ripping off” the format to create a show about amateur hairdressers, and the BBC had to pay damages. 

More details about the new GBBO have trickled out after we learned that Paul Hollywood was staying with the show. It’s apparently going to be extended to 90 minutes in length, although Love Productions chief Richard McKerrow assured fans that the show would keep its original format. “Bake Off will be produced by the same team, in the same tent, with the same recipe,” he said.