BAKING spirits bright

PAUL HOLLYWOOD and DAME PRUE LEITH whisk us a merry Christmas with specials featuring a TV reunion and a Bake Off first!

- REBECCA FLETCHER

Judges Paul Hollywood and Dame Prue Leith ho-ho-hope to serve up a sleighload of fun over the festive period with two seasonal instalments of C4’s The Great British Bake Off.

THE GREAT CHRISTMAS BAKE OFF & THE GREAT NEW YEAR BAKE OFF

NEW CHRISTMAS DAY, 8PM, & NEW YEAR'S DAY, 6.40PM, C4 COOKERY

With hosting helpers Alison Hammond and Noel Fielding overseeing proceedings, the Christmas edition sees the tent sparkling with star power as Peep Show favourites Olivia Colman, David Mitchell, Matt King, Isy Suttie and Sophie Winkleman reunite on screen for the first time since the C4 sitcom wrapped in 2015.

‘Please don’t tell them, but I’d never heard of Peep Show as I don’t watch much telly!’ laughs Prue, 85. ‘But then I watched it and got to love it. I know Olivia personally; she’s a very nice woman.’

The Crown star Olivia, who won an Oscar for 2018 historical satire film The Favourite, and her fellow competitors will be tasked with crafting hangable biscuit decorations in the Signature challenge and whipping up a traditional turkey pie in the Technical before recreating their top Peep Show moments in cake form for the Showstopper.

Will any of their efforts make it on to Santa’s ‘nice’ list?

‘This is David’s second time in the tent – he didn’t do very well in the first one,’ says Paul, 59, remembering the Ludwig actor’s first appearance for The Great Comic Relief Bake Off in 2015. ‘But the standard overall is pretty good. A few mess-ups, but that just adds to the comedy.’

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