Exacting judge Paul Hollywood is usually the one dishing out advice and a fair bit of constructive criticism to the nervous contestants in the Bake Off tent.
But, during the filming of the new series of The Great Celebrity Bake Off for Stand Up to Cancer, he was the one receiving some rather unusual training, courtesy of one of the budding bakers, Star Wars actress Daisy Ridley.
"Daisy taught me how to use a lightsaber. We used a rolling pin!” laughs Paul. "I wanted to know how you do the spin. She showed me how it's done and it's actually an optical illusion to make it look like it's flipping around, it was great!"
The new series of the Channel 4 baking contest, hosted by Matt Lucas, sees 20 more famous faces enter the tent to raise money for Stand Up To Cancer. Daisy, who plays intrepid Rey in the Star Wars sequel trilogy, will compete in the opening episode against singer Alexandra Burke and comics Tom Allen and Rob Beckett.
“Being a big Star Wars fan, seeing Daisy in the tent was fantastic. And she loves the programme,” says Paul. “We've known her for a couple of years, because when we filmed at Pinewood Studios [in Buckinghamshire], Daisy regularly ran around doing keep fit while she was filming there. She often popped in to say hello, so it was nice to see her behind the bench rather than just running past waving at everybody!”
Who else is in The Great Celebrity Bake Off for Stand Up To Cancer?
Later in the run, the other celebrities trying to impress Paul and fellow judge Prue Leith with their baking prowess will be actors James McAvoy and Reece Shearsmith, comedians John Bishop, David Baddiel and Katherine Ryan, presenters Anneka Rice, Ade Adepitan and Stacey Dooley, singers Anne-Marie, Dizzee Rascal, Jade Thirlwall and Nadine Coyle, YouTuber KSI, Olympian Dame Kelly Holmes, author Philippa Perry and DJ Nick Grimshaw.
“The standard was actually not bad this year. You could tell the ones who had practised for sure and you knew which ones had baked before and which ones hadn’t. But it takes a lot of guts to go into the tent, they are really out of their comfort zone. They'd have to raise tens of millions of pounds before I'd go in!” jokes Paul, who is thrilled that Bake Off is able to do its bit to help raise money for Stand Up To Cancer at a time when fundraising is tough.
“A lot of charities at the moment are struggling. So it’s nice to wave the flag.”
When can I watch The Great Celebrity Bake Off for Stand Up To Cancer?
The Great Celebrity Bake Off for Stand Up To Cancer airs on Tuesday March 9 on Channel 4 at 8pm.
To get involved or donate to Stand Up to Cancer go to channel4.com/su2c
