Move Over, Bake Off

Claudia Winkleman and Mary Berry on loving working together on a brand new cookery contest...

- Hannah Davies And Victoria Wilson

If you’ve missed Mary Berry as a judge on our TV screens, you’re not alone. But this week she’s back where she belongs for BBC1’s new cookery contest Britain’s Best Home Cook, hosted by Strictly’s Claudia Winkleman.

Each week, Mary and her cojudges, Chris Bavin and Dan Doherty, will be tasting the delights of 10 ordinary cooks as they face two pressure-cooker rounds – a key ingredient test and a challenge to put their stamp on a home-cooked classic, such as burgers or pasta.

Those who don’t meet the judges’ exacting standards in those tasks must then face a dreaded elimination cook-off before one of them is sent home. The real twist, however, is that the contestants will be living together under one roof!

Here Mary, 83, and Claudia, 46, sit down with TV Times for a chat about the treats in store…

It looks like you two are having fun working together… 

Claudia: Absolutely! I didn’t even know what the show was about at first but they had me at Mary! We could have been doing a show about cushions or eyebrows, I just said yes. Some of our contestants are also obsessed with Mary – one couldn’t look at her and when Mary tried her food and said she liked it, she just melted!

What do you love most about the new show?