Celebrity Bake Off: Jodie Whittaker, Mel B, Leigh Francis and Gabby Logan represent Yorkshire in Channel 4's Stand Up To Cancer showcase

As The Great Celebrity Bake Off for Stand Up To Cancer returns to Channel 4, let’s hear from some of the famous faces heading into the tent.

Every year, The Great British Bake Off graces our screens with a jaw-dropping display of baking talent, as a group of amateur bakers – with seriously expert skills – head into the famous white tent to bake their hearts out for judges Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith.

While the regular series is a source of great inspiration, the celebrity version – which has become a regular fundraiser for Stand Up To Cancer – tends to result in more funny moments than culinary finesse.

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This year, 20 famous faces are braving the Bake Off tent, competing in signature, technical and showstopper challenges against their fellow celebs.

Jodie Whittaker in The Great Celebrity Bake Off for Stand Up To Cancer. Credit: Channel 4 / Mark Bourdillon / Love Productions.Jodie Whittaker in The Great Celebrity Bake Off for Stand Up To Cancer. Credit: Channel 4 / Mark Bourdillon / Love Productions.
Jodie Whittaker in The Great Celebrity Bake Off for Stand Up To Cancer. Credit: Channel 4 / Mark Bourdillon / Love Productions.

Representing Yorkshire will be Skelmanthorpe-born Dr Who actress Jodie Whittaker and three from Leeds – comedian Leigh Francis; Spice Girl, TV presenter and patron of Women’s Aid, Mel B; and presenter Gabby Logan.

Split across five episodes, each cohort will have two days to bake their best and impress the judges. Also greasing their pans and whipping out their whisks for Stand Up To Cancer this time are: comedian and presenter Adam Hills, actor Danny Dyer, comedian and author David O’Doherty, TV and radio broadcaster Dermot O’Leary, comedian Fern Brady, presenter and children’s author Greg James, actor Joe Locke, broadcaster and satirist Munya Chawawa, TV presenter Oti Mabuse, singer and actress Paloma Faith, broadcaster and writer the Rev Richard Coles, comedian Rhod Gilbert, broadcaster Sara Cox, broadcaster Spencer Matthews, comedian Suzi Ruffell, and presenter and documentary filmmaker Yinka Bokinni.

West Yorkshire’s Whittaker talks a little bit about her time in the tent.

Are you any good at baking?

Contestants in The Great Celebrity Bake Off for Stand Up To Cancer. Picture: Channel 4 / Mark Bourdillon / Love Productions.Contestants in The Great Celebrity Bake Off for Stand Up To Cancer. Picture: Channel 4 / Mark Bourdillon / Love Productions.
Contestants in The Great Celebrity Bake Off for Stand Up To Cancer. Picture: Channel 4 / Mark Bourdillon / Love Productions.
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“No, but I’m starting to wonder if I might be slightly better than I give myself credit for. Like, if you can follow a recipe, you can bake. But I couldn’t go off-piste and start designing my own thing.

“Just to be a complete stereotype, I’m absolutely brilliant at Yorkshire puddings!”

Greg James adds: “We’ll find out! I’ve not baked, really, but I can follow instructions well, and I am enthusiastic. But I’m not the sort of person who bakes for pleasure. Who knows, I might be when the show is finished. Or I might never want to do it again.

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“I don’t think it really matters whether I’m a baker or not, I’m just going to have a nice time and hang out in the tent with Alison Hammond. What’s nicer than that?”

What are the strengths and weaknesses you’ll bring to the tent?

“My strength is that I am competitive, and I think you need a healthy competitive nature,” says Whittaker.

“You can’t cross over into enjoying the annihilation of other people, but I think I’ve got a healthy sense of competition. But that’s slightly cancelled out by lack of preparation.”

The Great Celebrity Bake Off for Stand Up To Cancer starts at 7.40pm on Sunday March 17 on Channel 4.

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