Alison Hammond to replace Matt Lucas as Great British Bake Off host
The established TV presenter will join Noel Fielding in hosting the baking competition
Aux News Matt Lucas
Following the announcement late last year that Matt Lucas would not be returning to Great British Bake Off, the baking competition has confirmed that Alison Hammond will now be joining co-host Noel Fielding in the tent for its 14th season. She has been a familiar face on British television for two decades, getting her start as a Big Brother contestant and then becoming a host on ITV’s daytime series This Morning. (You might also recognize her from that Blade Runner 2049 interview where Ryan Gosling and notorious grump Harrison Ford can’t stop laughing, so her ability to cheer up bakers whose cakes have fallen over seems promising.)
The news was announced on Twitter alongside images of Hammond, Fielding, and judges Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith rendered in what is presumably a very elaborate cake. Hammond was previously a celebrity contestant on one of the show’s charity specials to raise money for Stand Up To Cancer and will be bringing her own love for baking to the show.
“Alison is much loved, effortlessly funny and the owner of the best laugh in Britain,” Channel 4 chief content officer Ian Katz says in a statement, per Variety. “She was a huge hit when she appeared on Celebrity Bake Off and we’re thrilled to have her back in the tent.”
Last month, executive producer Richard McKerrow opened up about the beloved show’s growing pains and shared that the team was listening to viewer concerns about the 2022 competition, which he described as “not our strongest.” Great British Bake Off has been through a number of changes over the years, the most significant being the 2017 departure from the BBC. Judge Mary Berry, along with original hosts Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins, did not make the move to Channel 4. Following the shift, the show was hosted by Fielding and Sandi Toksvig, who was then replaced by Lucas after three seasons.
10 Comments
The energy she brings to that Harrison Ford interview will be delightful for Bake Off! Love Matt, but he never really clicked for me as a host.
I have not been aware of her, but after watching the Blade Runner 2049 interview and how she has one of the most curmudgeonly dudes in Hollywood in stitches, she has got to have her try at hosting. She looks like she’ll be a huge lift in energy.
Last season was delightful, though the baking talent wasn’t as high as in recent series. I think the revolving hosts have actually fared way better than might have been expected. A good co-host just needs to be sweet to the contestants and take frequent jabs at Paul’s vanity.
The people who complained about Matt Lucas are going to hate her. She will bring a lot more energy to the show.
Why? Do you think people hate him for his “energy”? Maybe he was just bad at it. I think no one has yet beat the original two women who hosted. And Noel Fielding makes me want to peel my face off.
I don’t think the issue with Lucas was too much or too little energy; the issue was he brought precisely the same energy as Fielding, so the show doubled down on the weirdness.
I have never watched Bake Off, it’s not my sort of thing, but Alison Hammond comes across as a lovely person and I wish her success in this new venture.
An African woman as co-host. That should go over real well with Brits who are known for their racial temperance and love of dark skin – and women.
What the fuck are talking about?? She’s English?
Alison Hammond has been a solid presence on TV for years now, and this decision has attracted practically no negative comment. Nor is she the first or only Black British woman with this visibility. There is a lot to be said about race in Britain, but this kind of thing isn’t the problem.