Nigella isn’t right for Bake Off – I know who is

After nine years as a judge on The Great British Bake Off, Prue Leith is stepping down – and I already know the perfect person to step into her shoes.

From the moment Prue confirmed her departure, the speculation about who might take over immediately took hold, with fan-favourite TV chef Nigella Lawson fast becoming the frontrunner of this hypothetical race.

I firmly believe that the decision for who will take over from Prue will make or break Bake Off. 

When the show moved from BBC to Channel 4, it took a major blow, with Mary Berry and beloved cohosts Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins bowing out. 

It was a transition it never quite recovered from.

If Bake Off makes the right pick for the new judge, it could mark a new era for the show and revive its status as great British TV.

But, I don’t believe the answer is Nigella Lawson. 

Although the ever-changing rolodex of hosts (Sandi Toksvig to Matt Lucas to Alison Hammond) has brought its own raft of problems, they made the right choice with the 85-year-old judge: without a doubt, Prue Leith managed to fill the Mary Berry-shaped hole in many people’s hearts.

Not only do the two have the same aura of wisdom and matronly warmth, but they also both had a similar rapport with Paul – that of respected colleagues with a smidgen of playful banter – making the transition from Mary to Prue not feel too drastic.

Nigella doesn’t embody the whimsical slapstick chaos that Bake Off thrives on.

Instead, we need to bring former Bake Off winner turned BBC presenter and all-around icon, Nadiya Hussain, on board. 

She could bring back the viewers that Bake Off has been losing and putting the show in peril. The launch of the 2025 series secured only 3.1million viewers, the lowest in a decade (the finale drew in a tidy seven million).

What was once a staple end-of-summertime watch for most of the nation has halved its viewership (even if it does remain one of Channel 4’s most popular shows). 

I used to discuss the show with my friends, and would almost religiously keep up with it. But that’s all changed – nowadays, I may tune into an episode if I’m free and it happens to be on.

But Nigella wouldn’t bring me back.

I enjoy her shows as much as the next person (who can forget the ‘meecro-wah-vay’ meme), but for me she would feel out of place in the tent.

She’s already so established on TV with her own brand, it could be difficult to cement her as a Bake Off legend in her own right.

Nadiya on the other hand not only has a strong association with the long-running reality series making her an obvious choice, but she is, by far, one of the most memorable and well-liked winners on the show. 

I guarantee if you asked a member of the public to name a former winner, Nadiya is the first person they would say.

She even has experience, returning as a guest judge on Junior Bake Off a year after she won. It would be a heartwarming full-circle moment to welcome her back onto the main series to judge alongside the very man who awarded her the victory a decade ago.

What’s more, we could see a delightful mentor-protege dynamic play out between Nadiya and Paul, which would bring a rich new layer to the show we’ve never seen before, giving it that all-important shake-up.

But that’s not the only reason I would love to see Nadiya take up the baton.

Last year, the BBC confirmed that after several years of collaborating with Nadiya on a slew of cooking shows, they had ‘made the difficult decision not to commission another cookery show with Nadiya Hussain at the moment.’

After the news broke, Nadiya shared a powerful message saying that as a child of an immigrant household she was almost made to feel that she had to be grateful but she realises now that she is ‘allowed to feel angry when I’m treated unfairly’.

Later, she claimed that she felt the BBC ‘will keep you till you’re of no use to them’. 

As a Pakistani Muslim woman who has long loved Nadiya’s representation of the South Asian Muslim experience onscreen, it was gutting to see her share such a tough experience. But one I wasn’t surprised by. 

The idea of being the ‘right kind of’ marginalised person is something I too have long had to deal with. 

When I started a decolonisation group during my time at university, I remember feeling anxious that I was becoming too much trouble for the department, and perhaps I should just be grateful to have a place there.

Then in my professional career, I was advised by some to keep my head down and my (strong) opinions to myself for fear of rubbing the people in power the wrong way.

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It’s why Nadiya making her comeback on the show that launched her into stardom, this time over on Channel 4, would feel like a true moment of poetic justice – and it is a gig I think she has truly earned.

What’s more, those who hark on about the good ol’ days of Bake Off – this would be a perfect nostalgia boost to draw in older viewers and enough of a shock move to intrigue curious new audiences. 

In my view, it’s a win-win, and it’s wild that she hasn’t been considered.

Who do you think would be a better Bake Off judge? Have your say in the comments belowComment Now

For those who need any more convincing, Nadiya’s Bake Off win in 2015 was watched by over 15 million people. A high the current show could only dream of. 

Of course, the TV landscape is very different in 2026 and those heights are rare but that kind of guaranteed appeal is hard to come by.

If Nadiya became the next Bake Off judge, I would tune back in as a loyal viewer. If it were Nigella, or another established TV chef of that ilk, I would likely just shrug my shoulders and carry on.

I can only see benefits to Nadiya stepping up to the plate and I hope Channel 4 considers her, before it’s too late.

If for anything, for the sake of the show’s future.

Do you have a story you’d like to share? Get in touch by emailing jessica.aureli@metro.co.uk. 

Share your views in the comments below.

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