BBC Loses Great British Bake Off And Channel 4 Swoops In

The current series of The Great British Bake Off will be the last to air on the BBC.

Copyright: BBC

Love Productions, who make the popular baking show, has ended its contract with the Beeb and signed a new three-year deal with Channel 4.

What’s more, in a statement Channel 4 said it has drawn up plans to make the next series a celebrity version.

Jay Hunt, Channel 4’s chief creative officer, said: “Channel 4 is very proud to be the new home for The Great British Bake Off. I’m delighted we have been able to partner with the hugely talented team at Love Productions to keep this much loved show on free-to-air television.”

The corporation refused to pay the asking price of £25 million a year to keep GBBO on BBC One, saying its resources ‘are not infinite’, which prompted Love Productions to seal a deal with Channel 4. However, they are said to have turned down bigger offers from Netflix and ITV.

In a statement, Love Productions said: “After an extraordinary six-year journey with the BBC, Love Productions announces with regret that it has been unable to reach agreement on terms to renew the commission of The Great British Bake Off. We will now be focusing on finding a new partner to develop the familiar show that the British public turn to in their millions.”

It’s not clear whether judges Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood and presenters Sue Perkins and Mel Giedgroyc will move with the show, though the BBC has confirmed they are not contracted to stay.

However, Sue appeared to show her loyalty to the BBC last night when she retweeted their statement which read “The Great British Bake Off is a quintessentially BBC programme”.

And Mary Berry told The Sun: “I have no idea, anything that happens is nothing to do with my choice.”

Meanwhile, celebrities have expressed their shock and opinion at the move, with Lord Sugar slamming Love Productions on Twitter.

He said: “There’s a fine balance in good business practice. Love productions have made a fatal error taking GBBO away from @BBCOne for few extra quid.”

While David Baddiel said: “Here we see Bake Off cast about to be approached by C4 bearing frankincense, myrrh and, principally, gold.”

The show is a huge hit with viewers, with over 15 million people tuned into the final of the sixth series last year to watch Nadiya Hussain scoop the Bake Off crown and 10 million viewers tune in every week.

Richard McKerrow, the creative director of Love Productions, said about the deal: “We believe we’ve found the perfect new home for Bake Off. It’s a public service, free-to-air broadcaster for whom Love Productions have produced high-quality and highly successful programmes for more than a decade. It’s tremendously exciting to have found a broadcaster who we know will protect and nurture The Great British Bake Off for many years to come.”