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Great British Bake Off hosting duo ditch the show

 

Los Angles  - Sue Perkins and Mel Giedroyc have quit Great British Bake Off.

The hilarious co-hosts - who have fronted the cooking show since it hit television screens six years ago - have decided to step down from the popular programme when it moves channel next year. 

A spokesperson for the duo confirmed they've decided to turn their backs on their hosting gigs just hours after it was announced that the BBC - who have screened the show since 2010 - lost the rights to the programme and Channel 4 will now take over the reins. (Read more here).

The BBC offered Love Productions an estimated £15m per year - double the current contract - in a bid to keep hold of the show, but producers refused to accept offers below £25m.

It's believed Channel 4 quickly waded in with a three-year deal - worth a reported £75m - after talks between the BBC and Love Productions broke down.

The future of the show is currently hanging in the balance as judges Paul Hollywood and Mary Berry are yet to make up their minds as to whether they move across the Channel 4 with the programme.

Mary and Paul are said to be on the verge of following in Mel and Sue's footsteps and quitting the programme after its channel move.

A source told the publication: ''Mary and Paul believe Mel and Sue set the tone of the show. They are the beginning, middle and the end and they fit around them.

''Paul is currently in LA and hasn't had a chance to talk to Mary. But they have always said they are in it together.''

Baking - the star of the show


Channel 4 see baking as the key ingredient in The Great British Bake Off - rather than the talent.

A Channel 4 source said: "Bake Off is the brand and it will always be popular. There's no doubting that when Channel 4 bid for the show they dreamt that they would get the star talent too.

"But they are now facing a very real situation where none of them are here when it comes back and they are preparing for that.

''The show is hugely popular overseas, and neither Mary and Paul, nor Mel and Sue, are a part of those shows. Baking is what people love. The four stars are just a part of the appeal.''

Some have criticised Channel 4's decision to pay £25m a series for the show when they hadn't secured the presenters and judges as part of the contract.

The source added to The Sun newspaper: "How they signed without getting the talent on board, or at least getting a steer from them, is beyond comprehension. What were they thinking?''

Channel 4 have already confirmed plans to air a celebrity Bake Off special first in aid of Stand Up To Cancer next year, and it is thought they may have to wait until 2018 for a regular series due to a clause between the BBC and Love Productions, the company behind the show.

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