Dame Prue Leith’s Celebrity Bake Off replacement confirmed as cast is announced
Dame Prue Leith’s longtime friend will take over as a co-judge in the Celebrity Bake Off special, Channel 4 has announced.
The Great Celebrity Bake Off for Stand Up To Cancer is returning this spring with many familiar faces – Alison Hammond, Noel Fielding and Paul Hollywood – and a surprise one-off replacement for Prue, 84.
Caroline Waldegrave OBE, a former Managing Director and co-owner of Leiths School of Food and Wine, will appear in the special series which pits four celebrities against each other every episode for the chance to be crowned Star Baker.
The contestants will have to tackle the Signature, Technical and Showstopper challenges and prove their prowess in the kitchen.
Prue has co-judged the show since 2017 but announced she was taking a break from the celebrity version in 2024 in order to have time to pursue other passions. She will still appear in the normal and US versions.
‘[The one] I’m not doing this year is the celebrity one and it’s mainly because these things are filmed back-to-back the whole way through the summer,’ she said on This Morning at the time.
She added: ‘You start in April, and you end in August and honestly, you get no time off. And so, I’m getting a bit old and there are places I want to go to and other things I want to do.’
Alongside the confirmation of Caroline as her replacement, Channel 4 has also shared the star-studded line-up – from actors in our favourite TV shows to beloved broadcasters and everyone in between.
This year’s cast includes: the creator of Chicken Shop Date Amelia Dimoldenberg, TV presenter and broadcaster Kate Garraway, Goodness Gracious Me star Meera Syal and comedian Phil Wang.
Podcaster Sarah Beeny, comedian Adam Buxton, sibling duo Scarlette and Stuart Douglas, author Ellie Goldstein, TV star Gloria Hunniford OBE and Ghosts star Jim Howick make up the middle bulk of famed bakers.
And we finish off strong with Bafta winner Gbemisola Ikumelo, radio presenter Roman Kemp, writer Jamali Maddix, Dinnerladies icon Maxine Peake, broadcasting duo Chris and Rosie Ramsey, music artist Self Esteem,Derry Girls actor Tommy Tiernan and British actor Sophie Willan.
Earlier this month, there was also concern Noel would not return to Bake Off after his Apple TV+ show, The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin, was cancelled mid-production due to his ill health.
Although bosses were reported to have been hosting ‘crisis talks’, Noel’s representatives confirmed to Metro that he would be returning to the series as planned.
As for Prue’s other projects, she was recently revealed as the second celebrity, Pegasus, on The Masked Singer UK.
When asked by -host Joel Dommett what Paul would make off her run on the show, she joked: ‘He’ll say, “You’re completely mad, you keep doing these things, why don’t you relax and just do Bake Off?”‘
The Great Celebrity Bake Off for Stand Up To Cancer will return to Channel 4 in spring 2025.
Dame Prue Leith’s Celebrity Bake Off replacement confirmed as cast is announced