ALISON Hammond had a “weird” audition for her job on ‘The Great British Bake Off’.
The former ‘Big Brother’ star was recently announced as the show’s new host replacing comedian Matt Lucas in the line-up for the 2023 series of the Channel 4 show and she’s now revealed the casting process was slightly strange.
She told The Sun: “They made me interview random strangers, to obviously see if I’m good with different people. It was a weird audition.”
Alison eventually landed the job but she had to keep her exciting news a secret for three weeks and wasn’t even allowed to tell her 18-year-old son Aiden.
She added: “Can you believe I couldn’t tell anybody? You know what my mouth is like.”
Despite being thrilled by her new role, Alison admits it’s been bittersweet because she is sad her late mum Maria isn’t around to see her daughter host one of her favourite shows, saying: “The fact she doesn’t get to see it - I’m devastated. It’s bittersweet. My mum was always a massive supporter of me. She was always cheering me on from the side lines.”
The telly presenter confirmed the news publicly earlier this month by posting a tweet which read: “It’s Official!! It’s happening The Great British Bake off! let’s have it – The cake that is so excited @BritishBakeOff @Channel4 @PrueLeith @PaulHollywood @noelfielding11 #GBBO.”
She will be hosting the show alongside fellow presenter Noel Fielding and judges Prue Leith and Paul Hollywood.
Noel was among the first to congratulate Alison on her new role, tweeting: “It gives me so much pleasure to welcome @alisonhammond55 into the tent. I’m absolutely pumped we are working together. We are gonna spend the whole time giggling like naughty school kids.
“The bakers are gonna love you to bits. x x x @paul.hollywood @prueleith @britishbakeoff x.”
‘The Great British Bake Off’ will be filmed over the summer and is expected to return to TV later in the year.
