Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

GBBO Norman Calder says show will suffer when it moves channels

Norman Calder
Norman Calder

The north-east’s own Great British Bake Off star believes the popular TV cookery contest will lose some “key ingredients” when it switches broadcaster.

Norman Calder won a legion of followers when he appeared on the ratings juggernaut in 2014, through his homely bakes and lighthearted outlook on life.

The Buckie pensioner has now joined millions of Bake Off fans in voicing fears about its future.

The show was thrown into turmoil this week, after it was confirmed it will leave the BBC for Channel 4 next year. Hosts Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins also handed in their notice.

Last night, Mr Calder – a retired merchant navy radio officer – said the pair are the “most critical part of the show”.

And he predicted judge Mary Berry will follow them out the door rather than move channels.

He said: “The show has lost two key ingredients in Mel and Sue, and that could be a problem for viewers.

“Changing to Channel 4 is one thing, that’s probably enough change for people to take in at one time.

“To lose those two on top of that will make it a completely different programme.”

He added: “When I was taking part, they just bolstered everybody up by adding humour to the occasion.

“There’s an old saying we used to have at sea, which was that ‘good humour makes all things tolerable’.

“No matter how bad a day you were having, they would cheer you up.”

Mr Calder said he envisaged 81-year-old Mary Berry stepping down as judge prior to the next series.

He speculated that last year’s winner, Nadiya Hussain, could fill the void beside Paul Hollywood.

Mr Calder admitted he was “very sad” the Bake Off will soon leave its home of the past six years, and raised fears viewers might abandon it rather than sit through advert breaks on its new commercial station.

But he stressed that filming would be performed by the same firm, Love Productions, and that the change could offer it a new lease of life.

Mr Calder was eliminated in the fifth week of the 2014 series.

Since leaving the Bake Off’s famous tent, he has continued to practice his kitchen skills in videos for the Press and Journal’s website.