Mary Berry says her parents were never proud of her cooking skills.
The former ‘Great British Bake Off’ judge has opened up about her parents’ attitudes to her career as a food writer and baker, and while she described it as a "different era" she still felt that they were "disappointed" in her, especially when she was at school.
Asked if her mother and father – housewife Marjorie and surveyor Alleyne – were "proud", she told BBC Good Food: "No, not at all. Although they were pleased I did well at domestic science, and that I used to bring nice things home to eat.
"But it was a different era – we were almost ‘seen and not heard’. My parents weren’t involved with us, and I sensed their disappointment."
Mary, now 84, moved to London when she was 22 years old to take on a job as a cook for the Dutch Dairy Bureau, and while he dad was "shocked" – even travelling from Bath to "check out" the man who offered her the role – nothing was going to sway her from taking up the opportunity.
Noting she wasn’t allowed to leave home until she turned 21, she added: "No [it didn’t stop me] – I knew I wanted to go to London, I didn’t mind how hard I worked, and even though I didn’t have the backing of my parents, it was great."
Mary Berry: My parents weren’t proud of me
