Celebrity Bake Off: New judge Caroline Waldegrave was 'terrified' of filling Prue Leith's boots as Paul Hollywood praises new star

Caroline steps into Dame Prue Leith’s position as judge alongside Paul Hollywood for the upcoming series of The Great Celebrity Bake Off for Stand Up To Cancer, which will return to screens this weekend. The celebrity cookbook author and co-founder of Leiths School of Food and Wine opened up on joining the show, saying: “I was completely terrified.

“Then, when I turned up, I went to the shepherd’s hut I was allotted and there were banners outside saying ‘Welcome!’ and flowers.”

Caroline revealed that her fellow judge Paul and the show’s production company Love Productions have been “just so kind and so friendly”, helping her to relax into the role that sees her replace her close friend Dame Prue. She added that co-hosts Alison Hammond and Noel Fielding also extended the warm welcome, making the mood in the world-famous tent “very light” with “a lot of laughter”.

Paul Hollywood has said that Lady Waldegrave has the “trump card from the off”, joking about her title compared to Dame Prue and former judge Mary Berry. He said: “From an aristocracy point of view, she’s beaten the other two.

“We were gonna call her lady, but she said: ‘No, no, no! I don’t want to be called lady.”

Alison added that Caroline came highly recommended by Dame Prue, 85, who announced she would be stepping down from the celebrity edition of Bake Off in December 2024. The This Morning presenter said: “Prue was telling us how amazing she was, so we were really excited about meeting her and she was lovely – an absolute breath of fresh air.

Alison continued: “She’s not too strict, I don’t think she’s as strict as Paul, She’s a really lovely lady and really passionate about baking. Most of the jokes go over her head. She’s quite innocent. I found that endearing. She’s a lovely addition to the family.”

The new series of The Great Celebrity Bake Off for Stand Up To Cancer begins at 7.40pm on Sunday, March 16 on Channel 4. Stars taking part in the charity-fundraising series include Good Morning Britain host Kate Garraway, TV presenter Gloria Hunniford, The One Show star Roman Kemp and comedian Chris Ramsey and wife Rosie Ramsey.