Gloria Hunniford admits she has ‘never baked’ ahead of charity Bake Off special

TV presenter Gloria Hunniford has admitted she has “never baked” ahead of appearing on the forthcoming series of The Great Celebrity Bake Off For Stand Up To Cancer.

The 84-year-old, who lost her daughter Caron Keating almost 21 years ago following a breast cancer diagnosis, will take part in the charity edition of the Channel 4 baking show alongside fellow contestants including TV presenter Kate Garraway, Youtuber Amelia Dimoldenberg and The One Show’s Roman Kemp.

Speaking about her upcoming appearance on the show, Hunniford, who has written her own cook book, said: “I’ve never baked, I do cook, but I’ve never baked in my life.

“When I was approached for this, I made it clear that I don’t bake. I had a couple of practice runs at home, and I really quite enjoyed it. I think I’m not doing too badly for a novice.

“I never had to do it at home, I was spoiled as a child and a teenager with all my mum’s cooking.

“When I got married for the first time – I’ve only had two husbands – I was only 21, and I asked my mum to teach me how to make a wheaten bread, and she said, ‘I can’t, because it’s a handful of this and a handful of that, so I can’t really tell you’, so I was never taught how to bake.”

Cook book author Lady Caroline Waldegrave will take over from Dame Prue Leith as a judge for the celebrity special, with Hunniford saying Dame Prue had been part of what made her “very much” a fan of the show.

She added: “I’ve interviewed and worked with Prue Leith quite a bit. I’m fascinated by the fact that, in America, she is treated like a pop star, because the programme is so popular over there.”

Hunniford is best known for appearing on TV shows on BBC and ITV including Rip Off Britain, The One Show and This Morning.

In 2005, she appeared on the third series of Strictly Come Dancing, where she was partnered by professional dancer Darren Bennett and eliminated in the third week.

Fellow contestant Garraway also said she had “never really” baked, but said “I love cooking”.

She explained: “My mum says I am a great instinctive cook and always seem to know how to combine ingredients to make something delicious – I  rarely if ever use a recipe.

“But that’s different isn’t it because you can taste it as you go – popping a pinch of something in here and a splash of something else in there.

“Baking is a different ball game entirely. It’s like magic. You take egg and flour and butter, that taste and look like one thing on their own, then put them together and they create something completely different.

“If you roast a chicken, it looks like a roasted chicken, it’s not that different to when it went in the oven.

“Baking is alchemy. So, I don’t think I’ve come out proving myself a Merlin, but I’m hoping not to be the Wicked Witch of the West.”

The 57-year-old said it helped to see her friend Alison Hammond in the tent, saying they could “laugh at my ridiculousness together”.

Speaking about entering the show, Garraway added: “It’s so lovely, because you walk in, and on one level, you just feel so at home, it’s so pretty, and familiar and everything you have seen on the TV is there.

“And then your next thought is ‘oh my god, I’m not just here to visit, I’ve actually got to bake in here and be judged by that famous panel’.

“So your second emotion is just one of terror, really. None of us feel like we deserve to be here. I definitely don’t deserve to be here. But am just loving making the most of the experience.”

Garraway is best known for hosting GMTV from 2000 to 2010, Daybreak from 2010 to 2014, and Good Morning Britain from 2014 to the present day.

The presenter’s husband Derek Draper died in January last year, aged 56, after a lengthy battle with the long-term effects of Covid.

The Great Celebrity Bake For Stand Up To Cancer returns to Channel 4 on Sunday at 7.40pm and on catch-up at Channel4.com.