A new judge will reportedly be joining the Celebrity Bake Off tent as the show gears up for its next season, due to air in 2026.
The Sun claims that pastry chef Cherish Finden will be joining the show when it returns to the airwaves next year, having previously appeared in Bake Off: The Professionals. She’ll be joining Paul Hollywood as one of the two judges on the show, which will be presented by Alison Hammond and Noel Fielding.
The former Culinary Olympics champion, who currently serves as Executive Pastry Chef at London’s Langham Hotel, is known to Bake Off fans for the no-nonsense approach she applies to her job.
Finden, who is from Singapore, has worked as a judge on Bake Off: The Professionals since it began in 2016 and has also appeared on The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice, MasterChef, Celebrity MasterChef and Heston's Great British Food.
The 57-year-old, regarded as one of the UK’s leading experts in afternoon tea, became a fan favourite among Bake Off viewers for her high standards and brutal critiques of other chefs.
Finden began working at the age of 14 and had enrolled in a culinary school by the age of 16. Her career has gone from strength to strength ever since, with the chef having worked in some of the world’s top hotels. She also designed a Windsor Castle-shaped cake for Queen Elizabeth II's 90th birthday in 2016.
The Independent has contacted Channel 4 for comment.
The latest season of Celebrity Bake Off aired earlier this year, with Kate Garraway, Roman Kemp, Amelia Dimoldenberg, and Maxine Peake among the stars competing.
Prue Leith admitted in 2024 that Bake Off’s filming schedule had become too intense when she was forced to sacrifice time off and seeing her family in order to keep up with the show’s demands.
She is therefore taking a break from her judging duties on the the flagship Bake Off show, with her longtime friend, Caroline Waldegrave OBE, stepping in for her to judge alongside Paul Hollywood. Waldegrave is the former managing director and co-owner of Leiths School of Food and Wine.
Although Leith was adamant she has not quit the show for good in an interview on This Morning last year, she said she found it difficult to keep up with its challenging schedule.
“These things are filmed back-to-back all the way through summer from April to August so you don't get any time off,” she said. “I'm getting quite old and there are places I want to see. So I'm not doing this year's.”
She shut down rumours she was quitting, saying: “It's absolutely not true at all!. What I'm not doing this year is the celebrity one.”
