Paul Hollywood found it "hard" filming ‘Great British Bake Off’ without Mary Berry and Mel & Sue.
The 51-year-old baker was the only member of the team to stay with the show when it moved from the BBC to Channel 4, and though he "misses" his former co-stars, he has quickly settled in to working with new co-judge Prue Leith and presenters Noel Fielding and Sandi Toksvig.
He said: "I have missed Mary, Mel and Sue, and when I started filming the new ‘Bake Off’ it was hard. But I had tears rolling down my face because of how funny Noel and Sandi are, so I wasn’t really that sad in the end."
And Paul admits he was upset by those who criticised his decision to stay with the show, and insisted being branded a "traitor" was unfair.
He said: "It has been hard because I was called a traitor over my decision to leave the BBC to go to Channel 4. There was an uproar when Love Productions turned down the BBC’s offer to continue with it and sold the format to Channel 4.
"But I’ve just had a motoring series [‘My Big Continental Trip’] on the BBC, so what is it that I’m actually a traitor to as I’m still with the channel!
"The other three left for whatever reason but I didn’t want to lose my job. The show found me and I didn’t want to turn my back on them."
Despite his reputation for being tough on the ‘Bake Off’ contestants, Paul insists he’s just being "constructive" and his remarks shouldn’t be taken personally.
He told Closer magazine: "I’m not having a go at them, I’m having a go at the bake.
"I’m not being horrible, it’s constructive.
"They can disagree with me – they’re wrong, but they can disagree with me."
Paul Hollywood found filming ‘hard’ without Mary Berry
