Former ‘Great British Bake Off’ co-host Sandi Toksvig has less-than-sweet memories about her time on the show

By Alli Rosenbloom, CNN

(CNN) — Life in the “Great British Bake Off” tent just isn’t for everyone.

This is especially true for the amateur baking competition show’s former co-host Sandi Toksvig, who served as co-host alongside longtime “Bake Off” fixture Noel Fielding between 2017 and 2020.

The comedian and writer told The Times in an interview published on Sunday that her time on the show was “three of the longest years of my life.”

“I’d never watched it. I still haven’t watched it. I didn’t understand it,” she continued. “Cakes are readily available in the shops. I didn’t enjoy the process.”

The tasting portion of the show was particularly frustrating, Toksvig said. That’s when the judges, Prue Leith and Paul Hollywood, go from workstation to workstation sampling each contestant’s bake before issuing a judgement.

“You stand at the end of a long table for hours when Prue and Paul taste everything and we literally didn’t speak or taste anything,” Toksvig said of herself and Fielding. It didn’t feel like she was really contributing to anything, she said.

Ultimately, Toksvig’s wife Debbie encouraged her to move on from the series after observing that it wasn’t making her happy.

Despite her distaste for the job, Toksvig said that she and Leith are real-life friends and continue to be “joined at the hip.” As for Hollywood or Fielding, Toksvig said they’re no longer in touch.

“The Great British Bake Off” has been crowning UK’s best amateur baker since 2010. Toksvig was replaced by comedian and actor Matt Lucas in 2020 upon her exit and last year, Lucas was replaced by Alison Hammond.

One thing Toksvig can be certain about, however, is that she’s much more into the salty side of food as opposed to the sweet.

“It’s not for me,” she said. “My thing is cheese.”

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