Shropshire Star

Prue Leith apologises for revealing Bake Off winner hours before finale

It came after the former BBC One show made a triumphant move to Channel 4.

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Prue Leith (Kirsty O’Connor/PA)

Great British Bake Off judge Prue Leith has expressed sorrow after accidentally revealing the show’s winner while in a different time zone.

The latest series of the much-loved baking show, the first on Channel 4, comes to an end with a hotly-anticipated finale on Tuesday night.

Leith, 77, who replaced Mary Berry when the TV hit left the BBC, put out the name of the winning amateur baker on Twitter, just seconds after confirming she had signed up for another series.

The Great British Bake Off
Screen grabbed image taken from Prue Leith’s Twitter feed (Prue Leith/Twitter)

The tweet was later removed from Leith’s Twitter page but by then it had already been seen by some of the show’s army of fans.

After her error became clear, an upset-sounding Leith told the Press Association she was in “a state”.

Leith is currently in Bhutan, which is six hours ahead of the UK.

“I’m in Bhutan. The time difference is massive. I thought that they got it six hours ago,” she said.

“I’m in too much of a state to talk about it. It was a mistake. I f***** up.”

She later tweeted: “I am so sorry to the fans of the show for my mistake this morning, I am in a different time zone and mortified by my error.”

The Great British Bake Off finalists (BBC/PA)

The finale on Tuesday night pits marketer Steven Carter-Bailey against health and safety inspector Kate Lyon and former Army officer Sophie Faldo.

Leith announced that she would be returning to the show next year, along with Paul Hollywood, Noel Fielding and Sandi Toksvig.

“Thrilled to say Paul, Noel, Sandi and I will all be back!,” she wrote.

The series was taken to Channel 4 by its then chief creative officer, Jay Hunt, who was later hired by Apple.

Fielding’s name raised eyebrows when his appointment was announced, along with Toksvig, as replacements for hosts Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins, but his quirky, surreal humour has been enjoyed by fans.

The show’s debut on Channel 4 served up one of the biggest audiences in the station’s  35-year history, with full ratings for the August launch a massive 9.5 million.

No programme on Channel 4 has achieved ratings as high since an episode of Big Fat Gypsy Weddings in February 2011, which was watched by 9.7 million.

Hollywood was criticised when he decided to move with the ex-BBC programme, with fans saying that the show could be doomed.

Channel 4 has been contacted for comment.

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