Matt Lucas will “pass the baguette” and depart The Great British Bake Off
After three seasons as a co-host, Lucas announced his departure from the popular competition series on Tuesday
Aux News Matt Lucas
It’s official: Matt Lucas will not return to his hosting slot on The Great British Bake Off and will leave the treat tasting to a new heir. Lucas has hosted the charming competition series for its past three seasons alongside co-host Noel Fielding and judges Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith.
“After three series and 51 episodes, I am cheerfully passing the baguette on to someone else,” Lucas shares in a statement posted to his social media on Tuesday. “I would like to give my warmest thanks and gratitude to everyone at Love Productions and Channel 4 and to Noelipops, Paul, Dame Prue, the crew and, of course, the wonderful bakers for welcoming me into the tent. I wish whoever takes over all the very best and I can’t wait to tune into the next series without already knowing who won!”
Lucas cites mounting conflicts, including filming for his Sky series Fantasy Football League, as the reason behind his departure. “It’s been a delicious experience, and I can’t imagine a more fun way of spending my summers, but it’s become clear to me that I can’t present both Fantasy Football League and Bake Off alongside all my other projects,” he explains.
Although Lucas seems to look back on his GBBO tenure with fondness and pride, many fans of the series took issue with his presence on the show, pointing out that Lucas’ humor could lean bothersome and culturally insensitive. In 2020, Lucas also found himself in hot water after both Netflix and the BBC pulled his series Little Britain and Come Fly With Me over Lucas and co-star David Walliams’ use of blackface. Lucas and Walliams apologized in the aftermath.
Despite the controversy surrounding Lucas, there don’t appear to be any hard feelings between him and GBBO, as a statement shared to Twitter from the series’ official account indicates. “We’ve loved having Matt Lucas brighten up our Tent for the last three years, especially when laughter and smiles were so much in need,” the tweet reads. “We appreciate everything he’s done for Bake Off, from working in covid bubbles to supporting the bakers.”
69 Comments
Huzzah! It’s a Christmas Miracle!
Spending that much time with Noel Fielding would be difficult for anyone.
I truly loved him as Nardole on Doctor Who, but his jokes on GBBO were always painfully forced. I won’t miss him.
Lucas and Fielding sort of have the same comedic energy, one that doesn’t tend to build on one another the same way Mel and Sue (MEL AND SUE!!!) did, or even Noel and Sandi. They need somebody with a bit more warmth on the show.
A million times this. I actually got to the point that I really appreciated the balance that Noel and Sandi had together; I think the argument could be made (not by me, because I’m a coward) that they were actually the best pair of presenters the show has had, because of the way their personas played off each other. When she left, and Noel (NOEL) became the calm, sane, voice of reason and experience basically by default…whoof. Something was lost, for sure.
Noel Fielding, voice of reason?!
I’m brave enough make the argument Noel and Sandi were the best hosting duo. I like Mel and Sue, but they settled on “food-based innuendo” as their comedy gimmick early on and never really moved on. Noel and Sandi were goofier and less predictable while maintaining a similar level of warmth—well, on Sandi’s part, anyway.
yes this! And no, you are not alone
I didn’t appreciate Sandi until she was gone.
I am also of the somewhat controversial opinion that Sandi is a better host of ‘QI’ than Stephen Fry. Fry was good, of course, but Toksvig is better.
Noel is a bit of a dick—amusingly so, for the most part—and I think Matt was just settling into the empathetic, shoulder-to-cry-on role, but yeah, the balance was never right.
Yep. Not having experience with the hosts except for GBBO (I have since seen much more of both outside of it) they always felt a bit like trying to do the same routine. It’s always tough to find something who’s different enough to be complementary, without conflicting, but I wish them the best.
Man, Noel and Sandi started out odd but fell into this groove that I really miss.
If you want more Mel goodness, track down her season of the magnificent British game show ‘Taskmaster’. She is so enthusiastic and wholesome throughout.
Mel and Noel are both on series four which is available in its entirety via the official Taskmaster YouTube channel. I also highly recommend.https://www.youtube.com/@Taskmaster/playlists
Well, if the ol’ Mock the Week cast are looking for gigs…
Acaster has been dying to get back in the tent!
/s
THIS DOESN’T FEEL NICE!
BAKE THE CAKE, YOU PUSSY!*Greg Davies appears from off camera and takes him aside XD
I like British panel shows but I also love to imagine that it’s the same four or five comedians finishing one set, moving the desks around themselves, deciding who gets to be host next, and calling it another show until they’ve all had a turn.
It’d be fun to see a comedian that could make Paul Hollywood blush.
I really liked him, but people talked about him in the most awful way and I have no idea why.
They should do a Muppets thing where they just have actors playing the Muppets, and hire Lucas as Dr. Bunsen Honeydew.
Actors already play the Muppets.
You know what I mean.Wait. Maybe you don’t.
Who do we cast as the human version of Beaker?
Diedrich Bader?
He said the human version, stop posting pictures of other Muppets.
Merchant’s too busy playing the lead in The Greta Thunberg Story…
Some actors are muppets:
He was so sweet with the bakers – but I do agree he and Noel are two absurdist comics and a more trad host would provide some balance. I hope to hell this isn’t because of the garbage people posted publicly.
Can we speak frankly about his head?
Going to be honest was not a fan. I think the combo of him and Noel was a bit much.
I’ll miss him, actually, I thought he pulled off the absurdity more than Noel. Excited to see a new host though!
“pass the baguette” sounds sexual.
Or like taking a huge dump.
Yeah……sexual.
on your lover’s chest.
French version of the Cleveland Steamer.
Nominating Rob Brydon, Richard Ayoade or transplant Rob Delaney.
An inspired list, that.
While i adore (yes, adore!!) both Ayoade and Delaney, Brydon seems the most natural fit of those 3 – especially if Noel is staying. Noel could lean toward the absurd and Rob toward the traditional. He also has a real warmth that would suit the role.
I mean, unless we could have Mel n’ Sue back…
Or Matt Berry, doing the full Laszlo voice. Imagine how many syllables he could get into the word “pavlova”.
My impression of Matt Berry is that he’s incredibly diffident and reserved outside of his acting roles. I’m not sure it would work.
I love Matt Berry but, if his entire output is anything to go by, he definitely would do that voice.
To be honest, when I think of the warm, encouraging host of a good-natured baking show, I can’t picture anyone other than Rob Brydon.
Richard Ayoade would be too distracting – his star shines too bright. (Same with Matt Berry, who some have mentioned). I really like Rob Delaney though. He’s funny, he’s self-deprecating, and would bring an entirely new perspective.
However, it’s the Great British Bake Off, so I don’t see them hiring an American. Plus, he’s too similar to Noel in that they’re both big, tall, oafs.
Now, Sharon Horgan, on the other hand…
Sharon Horgan would rock. But I feel like she’s too big of a deal.
Rob Delaney would be SO GOOD.
He would break the no-shorts barrier for hosts.
If it ends up being Brydon, how bread week will certainly include a “small man in a bread box” bit.
YES
Nominating 70’s era Keith Richards (the guitar player), 50’s era Keith Richards (the actor from The Ten Commandments), and Keith William Richards (the actor from Uncut Gems). Oh, and Claudia Winkilman.
His presence was pretty fun and I liked the sort of absurdist bordering on annoying comic energy he brought to the show (him and Noel obviously having a great time together), but this is a sweet show for softies and his whole vibe clashed with that a lot, so it’s probably best he mosey on.
I like him. I have been worried though that there is some underlying health issue. He has lost a TON of weight relatively quickly, and although he has denied it is an issue, it just looks a little concerning.
He spoke on the Off Menu podcast about gaining a lot of pandemic/lockdown weight. I would assume he was just trying to get back to a more comfortable place.
It was about time, we had had three years to figure out if “do a vague dumb voice out of the side of your mouth” was ever going to get funny, and it never did.
I’d love to see new judges (well, at least a replacement for Paul; Prue is fine) and new producers; Paul’s such a parody of himself at this point, the challenges have been downright odd recently and some of them have downright felt like gotchas (tacos? tacos?), and the choice of who goes home and who gets the star feels more influenced by a baker’s camera-readiness and general performance than their performance that particular week.
The challenges have become abysmal. An egg roll is not a pastry! I wish they’d just repeat challenges instead of feeling pressure to come up with weird challenges that don’t actually assess who’s the best baker. They also need to allow more time. When every single baker doesn’t get thing done, that’s on the show, not the bakers.
Talk about someone who is a literal egghead….
I caught a few episodes of Come Fly With Me while traveling a few years ago. My god … that doesn’t skirt the line of good taste, that is pissing all over it. Matt Lucas as a Jamaican woman. That’s all that needs to be said. Well, I guess I should also add that all PC issues aside, it just wasn’t funny.
I’d like to shout out my favorite Matt Lucas role ever: Roy Oates, manager of the Mermade Hotel on Catterick.
Matt Lucas has felt like the only host who doesn’t connect well with the bakers. Mel, Sue, Noel and Sandi all have had some empathy and comfort with the bakers. Lucas can be funny but he feels very much like an outsider.
Good riddance. Bon voyage.Perhaps it’s my American taste. Perhaps it was his casual, but obvious racism. I never found him funny and I’m so relieved he’s out. I almost stopped watching because of him and I probably won’t re-watch his seasons when I do a baking binge off.
This shiny-headed person is the reason I stopped watching. I cannot stand him.
I humbly nominate Matthew Holness, but in character as Garth Marenghi
This legit bums me out. I thought the Noel & Matt chemistry was really good and I never really understood the hate for him from some of the more rabid fans (other than the usual “It’s *different* than Mel & Sue! Different things are scary and make me uncomfortable!”)
I hope whoever they pick to replace Matt is someone with a real sense of humor and chemistry with Noel.
Rumours abound that Lucas is leaving as some big story about Walliams’ relationships with teenagers is brewing (both Walliams and Noel Fielding had relationships with teenagers while in their 30s and the tabloids covered it all while painting the girls as the shameful ones)