Sandi Toksvig admits she found hosting Bake Off 'boring' and 'didn't enjoy' experience'

The Danish-born TV star, 66, hosted the Channel 4 baking contention for 3 years earlier announcing she was stepping down successful 2020.

While the amusement is regarded arsenic 1 of TV’s astir heartwarming shows by fans worldwide, Toksvig was delighted to get away.

Opening up successful a caller interrogation successful the November variation of Saga Magazine, she explained: "I cognize immoderate radical were amazed erstwhile I discontinue arsenic presenter of The Great British Bake Off successful 2020, but I marque nary bones astir the information I did not bask it; I thought it was boring. I genuinely stood determination and watched meringue dry.

“It was the biggest wage cheque of my life, and my woman said: ‘But you’re unhappy’, and she’d alternatively unrecorded successful a structure than person maine spell to enactment and not beryllium happy.”

She didn’t clasp backmost erstwhile discussing her relationships with Fielding and judges Paul Hollywood, 58, and Dame Prue Leith, 84, telling The Times: “Prue and I are joined astatine the hip.”

Regarding caput baker Hollywood, Toksvig added: “Not truthful much. He’s truthful busy. He drives cars truthful accelerated it’s intolerable to drawback him.”

When it came to Fielding, her effect was blunt: "No."

It was a astonishing U-turn aft initially praising her friendships with the judges and her co-host erstwhile she stepped down, expressing her anticipation that they would stay adjacent close extracurricular of work.

In a connection shared astatine the time, she said: “Spending clip with Prue, Paul and Noel has been 1 of the large pleasures of my life. These are friendships which I cognize volition proceed beyond the confines of television.

“Bake Off is simply a fantastic programme which has already proved it tin happily withstand a alteration of hosting personnel.

“The crushed for that, of course, is that the existent stars of the amusement are the bakers themselves. I privation everyone well.”

After Toksvig stepped down, she was replaced by Little Britain prima Matt Lucas, who was past succeeded by This Morning favourite Alison Hammond last year.