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When \u201cThe Great British Baking Show\u201d returns for another season later this year, the tent will welcome a new judge alongside the freshest batch of competitors. <\/p>\n
British cookbook author and TV personality Nigella Lawson will join the beloved baking competition as a judge, succeeding Prue Leith, who announced her departure<\/a> from the series last week. \u201cThe Great British Baking Show\u201d (alternatively titled \u201cThe Great British Bake-Off\u201d in the United Kingdom) unveiled Lawson\u2019s appointment Monday<\/a> on Instagram. She will co-judge alongside longtime \u201cBake Show\u201d fixture and bread expert Paul Hollywood. <\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m uncharacteristically rather lost for words right now!\u201d Lawson said in a joint Instagram post. \u201cOf course it\u2019s daunting to be following in the footsteps of Prue Leith and Mary Berry before her, great dames both, but I\u2019m also bubbling with excitement.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe Great British Baking Show\u201d first aired on the BBC in 2010, with Hollywood judging competitors\u2019 bakes alongside Mary Berry. Berry departed the series when it moved from the BBC to commercial broadcaster Channel 4 and Leith began her tenure in 2017. <\/p>\n During her \u201cBaking Show\u201d days, Leith became known among fans and competitors for her affinity for boozy bakes and colorful fashion and accessories. Notably, she and Hollywood co-judged the series in its 11th season, which was filmed and aired amid the COVID-19 pandemic<\/a>.<\/p>\n Leith, announcing her exit, said \u201cBake Off has been a fabulous part of my life for the last nine years\u201d and looked forward to a new chapter in her life. <\/p>\n \u201cBut now feels like the right time to step back (I\u2019m 86 for goodness sake!), there\u2019s so much I\u2019d like to do, not least spend summers enjoying my garden,\u201d she wrote, adding later in her caption that she believes her successor will \u201clove [the show] as much as I have.\u201d<\/p>\n Lawson, a former journalist and Margaret Thatcher cabinet member Nigel Lawson\u2019<\/a>s daughter, comes to \u201cBaking Show\u201d with some history with Channel 4. The broadcast aired her series \u201cNigella Bites\u201d in the late 1990s and early aughts in tandem with the release of her book of the same name.<\/p>\n Her television credits also include hosting her series \u201cNigella Feasts,\u201d \u201cNigella Express,\u201d \u201cNigella Kitchen\u201d and \u201cNigellissima\u201d and judging on shows \u201cIron Chef America,\u201d \u201cThe Taste\u201d alongside Anthony Bourdain<\/a> and \u201cMasterChef Australia,\u201d among others.<\/p>\n She has penned more than a dozen books, most recently 2020\u2019s \u201cCook, Eat, Repeat.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cThe Great British Bake Off is more than a television programme, it\u2019s a National Treasure \u2013 and it\u2019s a huge honour to be entrusted with it,\u201d she said on Monday. \u201cI\u2019m just thrilled to be joining the team and all the new bakers to come. I wish the marvellous Prue all the best, and am giddily grateful for the opportunity!\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n