Alison Hammond has revealed the strange audition process that landed her as the new Great British Bake Off host.
Last week, the TV presenter was confirmed as Matt Lucas’ replacement on the baking competition, and she will soon be filming the next season alongside co-host Noel Fielding and judges Dame Prue Leith and Paul Hollywood.
Alison has already been branded the series’ saviour after sharing the news in a voiceover with an amazing cake-based replica of the set.
Alison, 48, was obliged to audition for the position despite her years of expertise.
While claiming to interview bakers made sense, she later disclosed that she was directed to a garden store to talk to consumers.
‘They made me interview random strangers, to obviously see if I’m good with different people,’ she recalled.
‘It was a weird audition,’ she added when speaking to The Sun.
Alison was instructed she had three weeks to keep the position a secret, but she ended up informing her 18-year-old son Aidan.
‘Can you believe I couldn’t tell anybody?’ she added.
‘You know what my mouth is like.’
Alison has been congratulated by her new colleagues, who have “said really lovely things,” as well as previous host Mary Berry, since the news.
However, the happy news was tempered by Alison’s revelation that the programme was a favourite of her late mother Maria, who died from liver and lung cancer in 2020.
‘The fact she doesn’t get to see it – I’m devastated,’ she said.
‘It’s bittersweet. My mum was always a massive supporter of me.
‘She was always cheering me on from the side lines.’
However, Alison will not be appearing on the show for the first time; she was a competitor on the Stand Up To Cancer special in 2020.
Alison joined Joe Sugg, James Blunt, and Alex Jones in a challenge to bake little Yorkshire puddings and a biscuit scene.
Alison, on the other hand, had a comical situation when she became perplexed after her oven door went missing.
Richard McKerrow, the GBBO showrunner and executive producer, revealed last month what the crew was searching for in Matt’s replacement in the tent.
He explained they had been looking for someone who would ‘look after the bakers during their experience and be curious about what they’re baking and to do it with charm, humour and kindness’.
The Great British Bake Off returns to Channel 4 later this year.