Mary Berry has shed further light on her decision to leave The Great British Bake Off when it moved from the BBC to Channel 4 in 2017.
The 90-year-old TV chef, who served as a judge on the show between 2010 and 2016, said that although she was offered a fortune to stay on the programme, she felt it wasn’t right “to move just for the money”.
“The reason for not going was that the BBC had trusted me to do that job, they had taken a risk, looked after me and I enjoyed it,” she told Saga Magazine for its November issue.
She continued: “I chatted with the presenters Mel and Sue and our director, and we thought, ‘This isn’t right, to move just for money’. We’ve all been looked after since.”
When the show moved, Berry, Sue Perkins and Mel Giedroyc quit the show, but fellow judge Paul Hollywood stayed on with Prue Leith joining him. Alison Hammond and Noel Fielding now present the show.
Berry revealed that she never watches the Channel 4 iteration of the programme, telling the publication: “No, I don’t watch Bake Off. It’s not really fair for my husband to watch yet another cooking programme.”
When Berry first left the programme in 2016, she told fans she had made her decision “out of loyalty” to the BBC, which she credited for nurturing her and the show.
“I am just sad for the audience who may not be ready for change, I hope they understand my decision,” she said at the time.
Both Perkins and Giedroyc underlined the issue of loyalty when they decided not to go to Channel 4, saying: “We made no secret of our desire for the show to remain where it was.”
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“The BBC nurtured the show from its infancy and helped give it its distinctive warmth and charm, growing it from an audience of two million to nearly 15 at its peak.
Berry has just released her new recipe book, Mary 90: My Very Best Recipes, alongside an accompanying programme, Mary at 90: A Lifetime in Cooking is on BBC Two & BBC iPlayer, which will air on 28 October on BBC Two and iPlayer.
The chef revealed that she’s often asked if she’s going to retire soon, but said her answer is always the same. “ There’s plenty of time to rest in heaven,” she said.
She pointed towards her fitness routine, which includes walking her dogs, two working cocker spaniels called Darcey and Freddie, and playing croquet twice per week.
“My mother was 105 when she died, so I’ve got pretty good genes. I’m immensely grateful for that,” she said of her fitness in her 90s.
