Channel 4 Great British Bake Off: The Real Reason Mary Berry Left The ...

Channel 4 Great British Bake Off: The real reason Mary Berry left the show and why she might no longer be friends with Paul Hollywood

Mary Berry quit the nation's favourite baking show in 2016

CommentsNewsSam Ormiston Acting Head of Content19:28, 05 Oct 2021Updated 19:28, 05 Oct 2021

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Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood were the joint faces of Great British Bake Off for seven seasons between 2010 and 2016.

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Alongside presenting double act Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins, the original judges graced our screens as the likes of current Strictly star John Whaite and Londoner Nadiya Hussain emerged victorious in the tent.

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But in 2016, when it was revealed that Channel 4 had bought the rights to the show, Paul Hollywood was the only one of the quartet to stay on as a judge on the show.

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READ MORE: Paul Hollywood's love life from affair that ended 20-year marriage to relationship with 24-year-old barmaid

Are the pair, who were once named the 'best reality TV judging partnership ever', still friends? And what was the real reason Mary Berry left the show?

Speaking in an interview with The Radio Times in 2017, Mary Berry, who is now 86, explained that she left Bake Off out of loyalty to the BBC.

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She said: "It was the BBC’s programme, it grew there. So I decided to stay with the BBC, with Mel and Sue.

"It was suggested what would happen if I did go to Channel 4; what I would get, the advantages. But I didn’t ever have a meeting with them. I’d made up my mind. To me, it’s an honour to be on the BBC. I was brought up on it.

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"I would always stand by him. Paul and I had our differences about what was important to us but he is a brilliant bread-maker and I admired him a lot."

Despite previously saying that she would always stand by Hollywood, it emerged two years ago that things might not be so sweet between the pair.

In 2019, a source close to Berry told The Sun newspaper that she was disappointed with Hollywood's treatment of his ex-wife Alex.

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After many years together, Alex and Paul's marriage almost come to a end after he had an affair with American chef Marcela Valladolid whom he'd co-hosted The American Baking competition with.

She took him back but things were never the same between the couple and they divorced a few years later.

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The source said: "Mary has made it clear where her loyalties lie – and it’s not with Paul.

"She’s still upset with how he behaved with Alex.

Although it is unknown whether or not Hollywood and Berry are still in each other's good books, they haven't worked together again.

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Since leaving the famous Bake Off tent, Mary Berry has continued hosting and judging, working on shows including Britain's Best Home Cook and Mary Berry's Simple Comforts.

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