Great British Bake Off stars paid for charity shows

6 April 2018

'Great British Bake Off' judge Paul Hollywood received up to £117,500 to appear in charity specials of the show.

Paul Hollywood

The 52-year-old baking expert was paid for his stint on Channel 4's recent Stand Up To Cancer celebrity episodes, as were fellow judge Prue Leith, 78, and presenters Sandi Toksvig, 59, and 44-year-old Noel Fielding, though it's unclear how much they received or how much of their fees were donated to charity.

All of the celebrities who took part in the contest, including Teri Hatcher, Alan Carr, Ricky Wilson, Martin Kemp and Jamie Laing donated their fees.

A source told The Sun newspaper: "None of the celebrity bakers took any money as there entire fees were donated to Stand Up To Cancer.

"But the presenters and judges all took a massive payday as part of their wider new 'Bake Off' contracts. It's pretty appalling.

"Viewers are going to be furious that Paul, Prue, Noel and Sandi took huge sums when the show was presented as a charity project.

"Channel 4 bosses claim the four donated a portion of their fee to the charity, but refused to say what percentage."

The show regulars were left to decide how much of their fee they gave to charity.

A source said: "It was up to them to decide what to donate.

"The show involved a big time commitment for filming several episodes and doing voiceovers later.

"Celebrity contestants who took part, like Alan Carr and Harry Hill, weren't paid at all.

"Their fees went straight to the charity."

A spokesperson for Channel 4 said the presenters and judges made a "significant donation" to the charity campaign and helped to raise "millions" more.

The representative said: "Our aim is to raise as much as possible for Stand Up To Cancer.

"hose contracted for long-running series make a significant donation to the campaign.

"As a result of their involvement millions have been raised with 100 per cent of the money raised going to fund ground-breaking research."

During the final episode of the series this week, comic Alan, 41, insisted it didn't matter how skilled the contestants were in the kitchen as they were all involved for a good cause.

He said: "At the end of the day it doesn't matter if your cakes taste delicious or they are rubbish, we're all doing it for Stand Up To Cancer.

"And 100 per cent of that money goes to the charity -- 100 per cent. What's not to love."