Although well on his way to stealing James Acaster’s worst ever Bake Off contestant crown, Big Narstie sadly had to pull out halfway through Channel 4’s Stand Up to Cancer celebrity competition.


Host Sandi Toksvig became “Little Narstie” as she stood in for the godfather of British grime, with co-presenter Noel Fielding telling the bakers Big Narstie was “a little bit unwell”.

While the show didn’t give any more details about his illness, the MC recently revealed to RadioTimes.com that he had collapsed the night before filming and had to visit hospital.

“Truth be told, between TV and my music career, they’ve been working me like a prostitute,” he said when asked about his withdrawal at the BFI and Radio Times Television Festival.

“So f***ing nine days with only 24 hours sleep…I f***ing collapsed, you get me? I went to hospital. That was a wake up that I really needed to slow down. I’m only a human being. I’m not a robot.

Adding how he planned to slow down his working life, Narstie said: “I realised that opportunities don’t mean s*** if you’re not healthy. If I haven’t rested or I haven’t slept or had food or done the normal basic things as a human being, how could I stand in front of a camera and do stuff, you know what I mean? It’s mad!

“When my body just gave up it was crazy! At night I just felt a bit f***ed up and then it all went downhill.”

However, despite the health scare, Narstie was delighted about his bakes that did make it to air. Yes, really.

“My rasta pie – vibes!” he beamed. “My doggy biscuits were flavours! Snap! It was like school biscuits with custard!”


We’re unsure exactly what sort of custard cream Narstie was talking about here, but judging by his interpretation of shortbread, we’re not sure we want to know…