Prue Leith wanted to know what Paul Hollywood was "really like" before she accepted the judging role on the new series of the ‘Great British Bake Off’.
The 77-year-old restaurateur has just accepted an impressive £500,000 offer to front the cooking show alongside the silver fox when it moves across to Channel 4 later this year but she has admitted she didn’t snatch the cash straight away and actually rang her close friend Mary Berry – who quit the programme last year – to find out what the 51-year-old chef was like to work with on screen.
Speaking to The Sun newspaper, she said: "When Mary said she wasn’t going with it, I’ll confess I thought, ‘I’d quite like that job’.
"So I rang her up before I took the job to find out about Paul. I was very anxious to know. She said he was lovely, so that was OK."
And, although she’s pleased with her pay, Prue has claimed the money wasn’t a factor in her decision because she doesn’t have to work for cash anymore.
She explained: "No, it’s interesting, I didn’t think about the money at all. That probably sounds quite arrogant but I am lucky enough to choose what I do. I don’t have to do it for the money. I heard that I was going to earn three times as much as Mary. That would be nice but I don’t know what Mary earned."
Meanwhile, Paul seems relatively happy with his new co-judge – even though she reminds him of his mother-in-law – and can’t wait to start shooting the new series.
He said recently: "Prue, obviously she’s got this huge professional background and I’ve got nothing but respect for her, I’m really looking forward to it.
"We’ve met and had a chat, there’s something there, she reminds me of my mother-in-law in a fantastic way, and I think we’ll get on great."
Last week, Noel Fielding and Sandi Toksvig were announced as the new hosts of the show and Paul – who was kept in the dark about their appointment – is "really excited" about the line-up for the series.
Prue Leith was worried about Paul Hollywood on GBBO
