Great British Bake Off replaces host Sandi Toksvig with Little Britain star Matt Lucas

The Bake Off judges at a kitchen table
(Image credit: Channel 4)

Matt's taking over

Great British Bake Off has replaced host Sandi Toksvig with Little Britain star Matt Lucas.

The C4 baking competition announced back in January that Sandi would be leaving the show, writing on their Twitter page, "All pud things come to an end.

"The upcoming series of The Great Stand Up To Cancer Bake Off will mark the end of Sandi’s magnificent stint as a presenter on the show.

"We would like to thank her for all the wonderful memories and wish her the very best for the future. #GBBO".

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And now they have revealed that former Little Britain star Matt Lucas will be hosting the upcoming season alongside Noel Fielding.

"I'm chuffed to bits to be joining the most delicious show on television," said Matt.

"I can't wait to break bread with Noel, Prue and Paul and meet the brilliant bakers. And bearing in mind my love of cake, I've already ordered some much larger trousers in anticipation. See you in the tent!"

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Executive producer Richard McKerrow also commented on the “exciting” change, saying, "It's extremely exciting to have Matt joining the Bake Off family, he's a phenomenal talent with a huge heart and we can't wait to enjoy the mischief and mayhem he and Noel will inevitably create in the tent.

"Our new batch of bakers will be in very safe hands."

The move comes after Sandi, who has been hosting the competition alongside co-presenter Noel since it moved over to C4 from the BBC in 2017, announced back in January that she would be leaving the show so that she can focus on other areas of her career.

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"When stepping down from a job it is quite common for people to say they are doing so in order to spend more time with their family," she wrote in a statement on Twitter.

"Unusually I am departing from the Great British Bake Off so I can spend more time with my other work. As my waistline will testify, Bake Off is an all-consuming show.

"Spending time with Prue, Paul and Noel has been one of the great pleasures of my life. These are friendships which I know will continue beyond the confines of television.

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"Bake Off is a wonderful programme which has already proved it can happily withstand a change of hosting personnel.

"The reason for that, of course, is that the true stars of the show are the bakers themselves. I wish everyone well."

Aleesha Badkar

Aleesha is acting deputy editor for My Imperfect Life, where she looks after the beauty, fashion and eCommerce pages. Previously she was a writer for woman&home and gained an AOP awards nomination after working on their news team. She earned an MA in Magazine Journalism from City, University of London in 2017 and has since worked with a number of brands including, Women's Health, Stylist and Goodto. When she’s not testing new products, Aleesha spends her time soaking up the newest bestsellers and Netflix releases, exploring different wines, attempting new languages and has been known to be a bit of a jet setter, after spending a year living in Madrid.