BAKING To Help Beat Cancer

Paul and Prue give us a taste of what's in store for the celebrities entering Bake Off for charity

- JIM MALONEY

Despite his best intentions, Paul Hollywood can't stop giving his legendary Hollywood handshakes.

As The Great Celebrity Bake Off Stand Up To Cancer 2023 gets underway, he admits that he's now lost count of them.

"I really can't remember," he laughs.

"Paul did say last year that he was giving out too many handshakes and that he was going to stop," says his fellow judge, Prue Leith, before adding, "But he didn't."

"The point is, I think there have been a few more handshakes over the years but it's because the quality has got better and therefore the handshakes come out," he protests. "But I'm going to readjust that, for sure."

"It's going to be tough, Paul," cautions Prue.

Both of them feel there is an extra bond between bakers and themselves on this Stand Up To Cancer version of the popular show, which helps to raise awareness and money for Cancer Research UK.

"Half of us are affected by cancer one way or another, particularly if you live as long as me," says Prue. "Both my and my father died brothers of cancer. There's almost nobody that's not affected in some way or other."

Paul nods his agreement.

"It's such a difficult thing to deal with. I have a friend who sort of went through it twice now."

Amongst a variety of for the bakers this challenges year is one that Paul and Prue thought was particularly tricky, and that was the celebrities attempting to create the image of their first famous crush in cake!