Gordon Ramsay turned down Great British Bake Off on Channel 4

The sweary celebrity chef was approached to take over from Mary Berry
'Sloppy seconds': Gordon Ramsay reveals he turned down the chance to replace Mary Berry on the Bake Off
Frederick M. Brown/Getty
Ben Travis11 April 2017

Great British Bake Off fans were in for a shock when the new presenters were revealed to be Sandi Toksvig and Noel Fielding.

But if the Mighty Boosh comedian seemed like an unconventional choice, there could have been an even more surprising appointment.

Gordon Ramsay has revealed he was approached to join the show on Channel 4 as the new Mary Berry, but turned it down.

In an interview with The Telegraph, the sweary chef said: “I’ll go back to Channel 4. They did ask me for Bake Off, anyway…”

He added: “I’m not very good at sloppy seconds.

“I don’t want to be the male version of Mary Berry. I’m 30 years younger and more wrinkly than her anyway.

“For me, Bake Off is like the Queen: it’s something to be respected, listened to and cared for. Not sold off.”

Channel 4 recently announced that Berry’s judging role would be taken over by Prue Leith, known for her role on the Great British Menu.

Candice Brown: BBC'S Final Great British Bake Off Winner

1/12

Ramsay made a name for himself on shows including Kitchen Nightmares and Hell’s Kitchen, famed for their intensity and high volume of swearing.

The chef recently hosted a week of ITV’s Nightly Show, which continued to lose viewers through its troubled launch.

The Great British Bake Off makes its debut on Channel 4 later in 2017.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in