RISING to the challenge

ELLIE TAYLOR on her sweet new job co-hosting Bake Off's hit spin-off series

- REBECCA FLETCHER

BAKE OFF: THE PROFESSIONALS 

TUESDAY, 8PM, C4 COOKERY

Ellie Taylor is experiencing something of a sugar rush as TV Times joins her for a chat about her new role as co-host of C4’s Bake Off: The Professionals.

‘I have a sweet tooth, so this is a dream job,’ grins the comedian, 39, who’s no stranger to competitive TV, having stood in on last year’s Great Pottery Throw Down after regular host Siobhán McSweeney broke her leg.

‘I loved doing Pottery Throw Down but there was nothing to eat, whereas there are delicious morsels everywhere on this show – including a chocolate cupboard!’

The eighth run will see Ellie and returning fave Liam Charles guide us through proceedings as a fresh batch of top pastry chefs put their reputations on the line in the hope of impressing judges Benoit Blin and Cherish Finden.

Here, Ellie spills the baking beans on what we can expect this time in the famous kitchen…

How qualified are you to co-host this show, Ellie? By which we mean: can you bake?!

I mean, I can do a basic cake or knock up some profiteroles if I have to, but that’s about it.

But didn’t you create a Sydney Harbour Bridge biscuit Showstopper in C4’s The Great Celebrity Bake Off for Stand Up to Cancer earlier this year?

I did, and I was chuffed with that. We had to make a shape of something in our home town and I chose my husband’s home of Sydney and the Harbour Bridge. It looked great but tasted awful!

So what appealed to you about this presenting gig?