Sue Perkins and Mel Giedroyc nearly quit the Great British Bake Off on their very first day, because they felt the show was too nasty, they have revealed.
The duo were appalled when contestants were filmed bursting into tears on the BBC2 show in 2010, Sue said.
So they threatened to walk out.
Sue divulged: “We resigned, basically, because it was not a kind show. They were pointing cameras in the bakers’ faces and saying, ‘Tell us about your dead gran.’ We had stiff words.
“We’re quite cheesy and homespun and we just want to have a laugh. Who wants to see people crying?”
Mel, 51, who hosted the show with Sue for six years, said they had a frank chat with the producers, adding: “We wanted to make it kind. That was our number one priority. On day one we had a frank chat with the producers.”
Sue, 50, said: “If you take the general public and you don’t make them feel welcome, essentially what the programme is doing is studying the effects of stress, not how they bake.”
Mel told the Radio Times they had no regrets about quitting for real when the show moved to Channel 4 in 2017.
She said: “I think it’s good to leave the party before the sandwiches start to turn up at the corners.”
The pals are returning to acting, playing a pair of assassins in upcoming Sky 1 comedy Hitmen.
