Great British Bake Off to move from BBC to Channel 4 after ‘exhaustive’ talks break down
Cooking programme has been on BBC for six years but will now move to another channel
THE GREAT British Bake Off is leaving the BBC after more than six years and will now air on Channel 4, The Sun can reveal.
Love Productions, which help produce the popular baking show, confirmed that"exhaustive" negotiations with the BBC had broken down.
It now means that the show, watched by more than 11 million, has a new home at Channel 4 and the first series will be a celebrity special for Stand Up To Cancer.
The station has signed a new three-year agreement and Jay Hunt, Channel 4’s Chief Creative Officer said of the deal: “Channel 4 is very proud to be the new home for The Great British Bake Off.
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"I’m delighted we have been able to partner with the hugely talented team at Love Productions to keep this much loved show on free-to-air television.”
Richard McKerrow, Love Productions Creative Director said: “We believe we’ve found the perfect new home for Bake Off. It’s a public service, free-to-air broadcaster for whom Love Productions have produced high quality and highly successful programmes for more than a decade.
It was announced earlier today that the hit show would be leaving the BBC after talks broke down with the national broadcaster.
In a statement released this afternoon, Love Productions said: "After an extraordinary six-year journey with the BBC, Love Productions announces with regret that it has been unable to reach agreement on terms to renew the commission of The Great British Bake Off.
“We will now be focusing on finding a new partner to develop the familiar show that the British public turn to in their millions.
“Love Productions would like to thank the BBC for the role it played in making this show such an enormous hit, and the faith they showed in us over the years to develop it.”
BBC published a statement earlier today saying they hoped Love Productions would change their mind.
They wrote: "Working with Love Productions, we have grown and nurtured the programme over seven series and created the huge hit it is today.
"We made a very strong offer to keep the show but we are a considerable distance apart on the money. The BBC's resources are not infinite.
"GBBO is a quintessentially British programme. We hope Love Productions change their mind so that Bake Off can stay ad free on BBC One."
The show, hosted by Paul Hollywood and Mary Berry, is as loved for its saucy innuendos as for its genteel cooking rivalries.
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