Paul Hollywood thinks 'Great British Bake Off' will "take time" to become a success on Channel 4.
Paul Hollywood
The 51-year-old baker has not made his debut on the popular show on the channel yet, but he hasn't been optimistic about how well it will do in ratings when it moves over from the BBC later this year.
He spilled: "It will take time to build. 'Bake Off' from the offset didn't instantly go 'click' on the BBC and it will be the same this time."
And the silver fox, who is reportedly set to rake in £400,000 a series, has admitted the show's success is extremely important to him as despite being worth millions he still worries about having no money because there was a time when he was scraping the barrel to get by.
He told the Daily Star newspaper: "I can remember nine years ago hunting down the side of a sofa for money to go to a meeting in London.
"I know what it's like to have little money. That's not going to change."
It comes after the hunky Liverpudlian insisted he didn't stick with 'GBBO' just for the pay cheque.
He previously said: "There can be as many as 100 people working behind the scenes and it's the same people every year. I'm always very loyal to the people I work with.
"I am on screen but we are all part of the team.
"Now [that the new series] is approaching, I'm getting excited. Chapter one has finished, the ride was amazing and now chapter two is about to start."
Meanwhile, Prue Leith, who is being lined up to replace Mary Berry, is reportedly expected to earn three times more than 81-year-old TV chef legend if she takes over as a judge.
The 77-year-old restaurateur was first approached about the role earlier this year, and is now believed to have been offered £200,000, completely dwarfing the £70,000 offered to Mary when the programme was still with rival broadcaster BBC.
A source recently said: "Prue is a cooking legend and has a lot of respect in the food world. The BBC were really under-paying both Mary and Paul during their time on the show.
"'Bake Off' had a relatively low budget which didn't increase even as its popularity went through the roof. That meant the stars were left on very low salaries in relation to the show's huge success. Prue will be on a lot of money but it's not an unexpected amount for one of the main faces on a show as big as 'Bake Off' to be earning."
Tagged in Paul Hollywood