Paul Hollywood takes huge pay package from Channel 4 as Mary Berry remains loyal to BBC and walks away
MARY Berry sensationally quit the Great British Bake Off yesterday as Paul Hollywood received a bumper payday to join Channel 4.
Paul, 50, will follow the show to its new home while Mary, 81, walks away after seven years.
Hosts Mel Giedroyc, 48, and Sue Perkins, 46, left last week saying they wouldn’t “follow the dough”.
Scouser Paul is believed to be getting £1.2million over three years to be main judge.
It means he will bag £400,000 a series, after getting less than £100,000 a year at the BBC.
Industry experts says he could earn up to £3.5million a year with added endorsements.
The Beeb tried to convince Paul to quit too, offering him a role on Top Gear alongside Matt Le Blanc.
But after successful talks with Channel 4 bosses, Paul yesterday hit out at critics of his move.
He told a friend: “What’s odd is I’ve left nothing. Love Productions left the BBC and I’m still in the same job. I will miss Mary, Mel and Sue though.. a lot.”
Praising the BBC show, he added in a statement: “Since I was a kid, baking has been part of my life.
“The seven series inside the tent have created some great memories. The Great British Bake Off has brought baking to the nation.
“It’s been a huge part of my life in the past few years and I just couldn’t turn my back on all that.”
Paul initially failed to mention Mary despite namechecking Mel, Sue and even the show’s well-hung squirrel.
But after learning of his fellow judge’s decision, he added: “I have loved every minute working with Mary. I have learned so much from her. We are great friends inside and outside the tent. That will not change.
“I’m sure she has made the right decision for her. I will miss her.”
Mary said: “What a privilege and honour it has been to be part of 7 years of magic in a tent. The Bake Off family have given me so much joy and laughter.
“My decision to stay with the BBC is out of loyalty. I wish the programme every success. and I am so very sad not to be a part of it. Farewell to soggy bottoms.”
Paul and Mary were modestly paid at the BBC because the show is classed as a factual programme, meaning its budgets are lower.
The likes of Strictly get more cash under the corporation’s entertainment tariff.
A source said: “Paul and Mary didn’t earn nearly as much as everyone thought they did for Bake Off.
They never once got six figures for their work. In fact Mel and Sue were likely paid more.
“Paul’s new deal is what a show of this magnitude deserves.”
His earning potential could rocket outside the BBC’s strict commercial guidelines. PR expert Mark
Borkowski thinks Paul could follow Nigella Lawson, 56, in bagging lucrative endorsement deals. Mark said: “He’s obviously gone for the dough. So he has to plunder that first series.
“If they make all the same mistakes as Top Gear, there might not be much money after that. He could make £3.5million a year if he’s smart. The problem is whether or not the show can survive. It needs four or five million viewers.”
Paul has also been in talks to relaunch his Stateside career in two cookery shows made by American networks.
His move sparked a bitter war of words between the two UK networks. Channel 4 claim the BBC is trying to destroy the show now it’s no longer theirs.
The Beeb is defending the three stars for staying loyal. A TV source said: “It’s all got very nasty, very quickly. Both channels need to grow up and focus on their own shows.”
Ex-culture secretary John Whittingdale questioned if the UK’s two not-for-profit broadcasters should enter into bidding wars.
He said: “The decision to purchase Bake Off off the BBC, I have to say surprised me. It does raise questions about whether or not it’s appropriate.”
Makers Love Production had been hopeful of tempting Paul and Mary.
But insiders say the BBC “brainwashed” Mary into staying after Paul signed his deal at Channel 4’s
Central London offices on Wednesday. He then phoned Charlotte Moore, the controller of BBC1 to inform her of his decision.
It is then believed this started a chain reaction, which resulted in Mary quitting the show. A TV source said: “The BBC controlled what Mary did entirely.
“She has a lot of prior commitments with them, including other shows and lucrative appearances.
“There’s definitely a feeling that Beeb dangled the carrot to Mary and threatened to take it away.
“She was left with the feeling that at 81 she had little choice but to stay.”
Yesterday Channel 4 insisted that Paul would eventually get a co-judge, and the show would retain a familiar format.
They also said they would extend the length of the episode by up to half an hour so viewers still got the same amount of baking action as they did on the BBC.
A production source said: “We’re not trying to reinvent the wheel. We wanted to keep the format as close to how it was as possible.”
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