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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Entertainment
Mark Jefferies

Bake Off's Matt Lucas is 'really nervous' as he's forced to bake as contestant pulls out

Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith have revealed Matt Lucas struggled in The Great Celebrity Bake Off as nerves "get to him" in the tent like everyone else.

In each episode starting next week, four famous bakers go head to head to compete in three rounds - the signature, technical and showstopper challenges hoping to impress Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith.

But host Matt Lucas ended up swapping sides after he was called on to fill in for a missing baker and face the scrutiny of his fellow presenter Noel Fielding.

Asked if Matt had learned some baking skills over the last two years as a host, Paul Hollywood said: "If you watch, you will realise… no. He has got all the words but nothing to back it up with. He knows all the right things, but just can’t put it all in the right order.

Matt Lucas struggles with his nerves in the upcoming series (Channel 4)

"He was nervous. He got a little bit tetchy didn’t he? He got really upset because something had gone wrong and it’s funny how it affects people.

"It doesn’t matter where you are from, stick them in the tent, and it all gets a little bit… the tension, it's like being in an exam or being in the middle of doing your driving test or something, you just might say something stupid or do something stupid. I think Matt, it did get to him. You could see. And he knew us, we were friends and he was in a friendly environment, but he was really nervous, bless him."

The Great British Bake Off hosts and judges (Channel 4)

Being more diplomatic, 82-year-old Prue said: "He didn’t do badly Paul. He had trouble with his marzipan."

Speaking about his experience previously, Matt said: “I was forced to bake by my bosses at the last minute when one of the bakers became unavailable. I can’t tell you how happy I was that my humiliation was caught on camera.”

The other stars switching on their mixers to raise some life-saving dough for cancer research are: comedian and creator of Taskmaster Alex Horne; international broadcaster Annie Mac; actor and children’s author Ben Miller; actor Blake Harrison; broadcaster Clara Amfo; comedian Ed Gamble; singer-songwriter Ellie Goulding; TV presenter Emma Willis; singer-songwriter Example; choirmaster and broadcaster Gareth Malone; actress Katherine Kelly; TV presenter Laura Whitmore; actor, writer and comedian Mawaan Rizwan; Olympic champion Sir Mo Farah; presenter and dancer Motsi Mabuse; comedian, writer and TV presenter Ruby Wax; TV Presenter Sophie Morgan; actress Tracy-Ann Oberman, and comedian and musician Yung Filly.

* The Great Celebrity Bake Off for Stand Up To Cancer starts next Tuesday (March 22) at 8pm on Channel 4.

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