Mary Berry: This is the unexpected reason she quit The Great British Bake Off

Loyal fans of the much-loved The Great British Bake Off would fondly remember the quartet – Mel, Sue, Mary and Paul – for how well they steered the program for seven amazing seasons. They would also tell you, if asked, how it has never been the same since the phenomenal Mary Berry quit the show in 2017. But it would appear her reasons were quite noble.

As you may well know, Channel 4 has not always been the platform to host the show. Since its inception until 2017, The Great British Bake Off was on the BBC.

Reason for leaving

Berry told RadioTimes, she refused to host the show on a different station due to her loyalty to the BBC. She wasn’t the only person who wasn’t happy after the show was moved to Channel 4 – her co-presenters, Sue Perkins and Mel Giedroye, chose not to migrate as well. Berry explained that since the BBC nurtured the show from nascence, she thought it best to maintain her allegiance to the national broadcaster.

It was the BBC program, it grew there, so I decided to stay with the BBC, with Mel and Sue

So strong is her loyalty to the BBC that Berry did not even avail herself to be asked to move to Channel 4. She was firm in her gratitude to the BBC for giving her the platform in the first place. In the Radio Times interview, Berry said:

Well, I avoided being asked. It was suggested what would happen if I did go to Channel 4; what would I get, the advantages. But I didn’t ever have a meeting with them. I’d made up my mind. To me, it's an honour to be on BBC. I was brought up on it

Any regrets?

If you thought for a minute that Berry’s decision to stay with the BBC was career suicide, you have another thing coming. She’s continued to soar in her career after breaking camp with the Great British Bake Off. She has so far appeared on several great shows including Strictly Come Dancing, This Morning, Mary Berry’s Quick Cooking, among other notable shows.

There is no doubt that Berry loved the show and the entire team and considered it a blessing to be part of it. In 2014 when Jay Rayner met the show’s stars, Berry told him, as reported by The Guardian:

I count my blessings every day. I love the whole team, because being ancient I get terribly well looked after

Sources used:

- The Radio Times: 'Mary Berry reveals why she didn't leave the BBC - and why a bit of sugar never hurt 'anybody

- The Guardian: 'The Great British Bake Off: Now we're on BBC1, Mary Berry demands a golden throne'

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