I’ve seen Bake Off’s Paul Hollywood with Nigella Lawson – their chemistry is electric

There’s a change in the air in The Great British Bake Off tent.

Last month, Dame Prue Leith announced she was leaving the beloved baking show after nine years. The news didn’t come as a huge shock, considering she’d already stepped back from the celebrity version of the show, but it was still a major change after almost a decade.

The one and only Nigella Lawson was heavily rumoured to take over the mantle, and soon it was confirmed that she would indeed be following in the footsteps of Dame Prue and Dame Mary Berry before her, joining Paul Hollywood to judge the best of Britain’s amateur bakers.

I was curious how Nigella and Paul would mesh together on screen as a duo. Then last night, I represented Metro to attend Channel 4’s 2026 preview event, where they made a surprise appearance for a live joint interview. And let me tell you – their chemistry was electric from the get-go.

After sharing sneak peeks at upcoming Channel 4 TV shows, including Russell T Davies’ Tiptoe and Daisy Haggard’s Maya, and the second season of Virgin Island, the broadcaster’s chief content officer Ian Katz announced that a couple of ‘surprise guests’ had arrived.

Enter Paul, 59, in his signature shirt, jeans and jacket, and Nigella, 66, in a suave all-white power suit. The audience, filled with entertainment journalists, gasped in excited awe as they walked up the stairs and took their seats on stage as the night’s guests of honour.

Nigella appeared at ease, oozing with confidence as she and Paul bantered as though they’d already been working together for years.

‘In a way, I suppose what I’m looking forward to is being part of the gang. Paul and I have been chatting non-stop. We came here together tonight. I have to say, we were told off in the corridor for talking about focaccia too noisily. That’s not a euphemism,’ she said on stage, prompting the audience to burst into laughter.

Whether or not Nigella was your first pick to be the new Bake Off judge or not, there’s no doubt that she’s going to be a hoot in the tent.

Over the years, Paul has been regarded as the harsher judge, with Dame Mary and Dame Prue providing the bakers with warmth and encouragement. So what kind of a judge does Nigella think she’ll be, she was asked?

‘I do feel as a general principle in life, I look for pleasure and not for fault. I think that if you can, you should always find what’s good about something that you can genuinely be enthusiastic about, and then you can talk about things which you think need to be worked on,’ she answered.

Referring to her former work as a restaurant critic, she continued: ‘A very unproductive way of being a critic is to make people feel diminished, because that never helps in life. So I think it really is about encouraging.’

While they might end up having different judging styles, Paul couldn’t have spoken more highly of Nigella. He emphasised that in everyday life, if Nigella says that something is good, ‘chances are you’re going to run down to the shop, buy it and make it.’ No truer words have been spoken.

‘I think it comes down to knowledge and taste buds. Both Mary and Prue have amazing taste buds and a huge depth of knowledge of what they’re talking about and, point in question, Nigella – exactly the same, comes from the same mould,’ he stated. ‘Nigella’s taste buds are unbelievable.’

He insisted that he wouldn’t need to teach Nigella anything about being a Bake Off judge, stressing that she ‘knows what she’s talking about’… but he also admitted that he might have to step in if she tries to offer the bakers too much assistance.

‘Listen, I will have a problem standing back, because I have a terrible habit of nudging and interfering. As Paul has already learnt just in a couple of hours,’ Nigella admitted.

‘But also, I am very aware that it is a competition. You have to be quite careful that when you talk to the bakers, [so] no one feels like they’ve got more help or more instruction. I’m very aware of that, but I do think I will find it hard not to say, “Have you thought about putting some salt in there?”’

‘I might have to step in then,’ Paul quipped in response.

But flipping this dynamic the other way around, one of the aspects of Bake Off that I’m most looking forward to when it returns is Nigella having no qualms playfully calling Paul out.

At one point during the press event, Paul expressed his admiration for members of the crew who’ve been a part of the show for 17 years, saying that returning to the tent is like ‘being back to a friend of mine I’ve known for over a third of my life’.

The interview was about to continue, but then Nigella quickly interjected to point out: ‘17 years is not a third of your life.’

The audience cackled away, and Paul chuckled in his seat, slightly red-faced over being caught out by his new co-star. (To be fair, 17 is almost a third of his age, but not quite).

Nigella is clearly going to keep Paul on his toes, and I can’t wait to watch.

The Great British Bake Off will return on Channel 4 this year.

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