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The Great British Bake Off: Sue Perkins reveals why she almost left show before Channel 4 move

'There was one point where I did think, 'Can I do this forever?''

Jack Shepherd
Monday 10 July 2017 12:27 BST
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Sue Perkins revealed how she almost left The Great British Bake Off before the show moved from the BBC to Channel 4.

Speaking to Kirsty Young on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs, Perkins said she questioned staying on the show after filming The Mekong River with Sue Perkins.

"It was a really sweet show, and I loved the crew, and I loved the director, and I loved the bakers, but I sort of loved all of it," she said, via Digital Spy.

"There was one point where I did think, 'Can I do this forever?' which is when I had come back from my travels.

"Four days before I came into the Bake Off tent, I had been with the first family of the Mekong in Tibet. They had no electricity and no running water, and they would have yak butter and barley, and that's all they ate, and they would meditate and be in bed by six.

"And then four days later, I was in a tent where somebody was crying because they couldn't find the packet of marron glacé. And I did think, 'How can I rationalise these two worlds?’"

Although there was some hesitancy about staying on the show, Perkins admitted she will “miss it” but wishes the show the best for the future. “There’s no point in rancour," she added.

Recently Paul Hollywood — the only member of The Great British Bake Off’s original line-up — spoke about moving to Channel 4, addressing rumours Sandi Toksvig and Noel Fielding shared no chemistry.

“I had tears rolling down my face because of how funny Noel and Sandi are, so I wasn’t really that sad in the end,” he said.

A return date has yet to be revealed by Channel 4.

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