TV chief says show was ‘baking powder and a tent’ without a guarantee Sue Perkins, Mel Giedroyc, Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood would be attached

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

ITV decided not to make an offer for The Great British Bake Off because it feared that if the show’s stars were not signed up it would be “baking powder and a tent”, the broadcaster’s TV chief has revealed.

Channel 4 secured Bake Off in a £75m deal last month after the show’s producers were unable to agree a new deal with the BBC.

However, it received a blow when presenters Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins decided not to “go with the dough” and remain on the BBC, later joined by judge Mary Berry. Her fellow judge Paul Hollywood has said he will follow the show to Channel 4.

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ITV director of TV Kevin Lygo told Broadcast magazine the producers, Love Productions, had told him there was no guarantee the show’s stars would be attached.

“You really are buying some sort of baking powder and a tent,” Lygo said. “I said, ‘If you can’t guarantee it, then no, it’s not for us thank you very much.’”

Lygo said the BBC should examine closely why it had lost the show, describing the move to Channel 4 as “just a really weird screw-up”.

He added: “It will be studied by television sociologists in years to come, I suspect, about what the fuck went on with that show.”