Paul Hollywood has addressed claims that he chose to stay with the Great British Bake Off for its move to Channel 4 because of the money he was offered.

The judge and TV presenter, who was the only original member of the hosting team who chose to stay with the show, said he spoke to fellow judge Mary Berry after receiving a message from Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins about their decision to leave.

"I got a text from Mel telling me what they were doing so I knew a couple of hours before everybody, and I think that was really the end of chapter one," he told The Sun.

"Mary and me spoke about Mel and Sue leaving and we understood their decision. Then we spoke about our decision."

Mary Berry then announced that she would also be leaving GBBO. Hollywood went onto sign a deal with Channel 4 which was worth a reported £1.5 million, but has since said that he didn't want to leave the job "because I love that job".

Best Great British Bake Off innuendos Show all 6 1 /6 Best Great British Bake Off innuendos Best Great British Bake Off innuendos 'Dip your cherries in the dough and off we go!' Baking offers so many opportunities for naughty jokes - and Mel and Sue take full advantage Best Great British Bake Off innuendos 'Bakers! Stop nozzling your princesses!' Hosts Mel and Sue offer up a relentless stream of puns and innuendos every week, much to Paul Hollywood's feigned despair (he loves it really) Best Great British Bake Off innuendos 'Was that leakage?' There's a lot of talk of 'leakage' on the Bake Off these days. Most puzzling. Best Great British Bake Off innuendos 'The crimp is critical to stop any leakage from the meat' Paul and Richard are full of innuendos as Mary Berry looks on pretending not to find it amusing Best Great British Bake Off innuendos 'Stop touching your dough balls!' The BBC have been tweeting their 'innuendo of the week' throughout the series Best Great British Bake Off innuendos 'It's got to be risen and rested before it goes in' Oh stop it Paul...

Hollywood explained that it was different for Berry as they were at different points in their careers, and he couldn't find a reason to part ways with Love Productions.

RadioTimes reported on Friday that the BBC is allegedly planning to play "hardball" over terms in its Great British Bake Off contract which could prevent Channel 4 from airing a full series next year.

The holdback or "cooling off" clause stipulates that if the show moves to another broadcaster it cannot be aired until the following year.