Great British Bake Off fans call for ‘day of mourning’ after Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins quit

Fans are comparing the news to the Top Gear change earlier this year
Emma Powell14 September 2016

Great British Bake Off fans have called for a “day of mourning” after being left devastated by the news that Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins have quit the show following its move to Channel 4.

The presenting duo – who entertained viewers with their endless baking innuendos – said no to the “dough” after Channel 4 paid £75 million to swipe the show from the BBC for three years.

In a statement they said they were “shocked and saddened” by the news but were staunchly against its move to a rival broadcaster.

“We’ve had the most amazing time on Bake Off, and have loved seeing it rise and rise like a pair of yeasted Latvian baps,” they said.

“We’re not going with the dough. We wish all the future bakers every success.”

Fans reacted in shock, with some joking that they would rather see the bread lion created by a contestant in 2015 take over the helm rather than hand over presenting duties to a new presenting team.

One user mocked up a fake Wikipedia page and put Noel Edmonds and Keith Chegwin down as hosts while another joked that Rylan Clark-Neal could take over.

Others compared the situation to Top Gear and claimed that the new series will simply be an empty white tent.

It is currently unknown whether judges Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood will move over to Channel 4.

Speaking to Chris Evans on Top Gear earlier in 2016, Hollywood said: “It's not up to us, it's up to the production company, but as far as Mary, Mel, Sue and myself are concerned we want to stay on the BBC.”

Programme-makers Love Productions signed the deal after year-long negotiations.

The first Bake Off programme on Channel 4 will be a celebrity version of the show in 2017, in aid of Stand Up To Cancer.

The Great British Bake Off is on BBC One at 8pm on Wednesday.

Great British Bake Off 2016 - contestants in pictures

1/13

Follow @StandardEnts or like us on Facebook for more entertainment news.

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