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To feel let down by Sandi Toksvig's Bake Off Comments?

189 replies

BishyBarnyBee · 11/10/2024 17:00

Sandi has given a few interviews saying her brain was atrophying on Bake Off and she had to leave for her own sanity. I know she's a comedian so her words are partly for effect - but it's so disrespectful to the people who love the show.

Richard Osman tweeted "I honestly don't think you should present shows you wouldn't watch" and I think that's right. She's really gone down in my estimation.

It would have shown more integrity to not take the huge pay cheque in the first place rather than phone it in for 3 years and then rubbish the show that's been paying your mortgage for you.

For the record, it's quite possible to be a very intelligent and well educated person and still be interested in cake - or at least, in other people, which is what that role is really about.

I've gone right off her!

OP posts:
CrossPurposes · 11/10/2024 19:13

PennyFarthingRider · 11/10/2024 17:05

I don't think there's much point in pretending that the GBBO is anything other than a TV programme made for profit, Sure, it's also a much-loved national/international institution, but it's also just a show, not staffed by angels floating about on clouds. They're just TV presenters doing a job.

I remember the blog by Danni/Danny/Dani, the A and E medic who made it to the final in a series from ages ago, which was nice, but also deeply realistic about her experience of being in it. She said something like 'Everyone was nice, but you also never forgot that they were making a product, and the product wasn't you.'

Danny's apple cake is beyond amazing.

Here is her blog on being on the show: https://bakingastherapy.wordpress.com/2012/10/21/bake-off-confidential-bittersweet-adventures-in-a-tv-show/

Also the apple cake recipe: https://bakingastherapy.wordpress.com/2012/09/16/an-international-apple-pie/

Bake Off Confidential – bittersweet adventures in a TV show

Don’t get me wrong: I gained a huge amount from the Bake Off experience and I cook every day I’m at home and still love to bake. I’m not going to give you a blow by blow account of how to fill in t…

https://bakingastherapy.wordpress.com/2012/10/21/bake-off-confidential-bittersweet-adventures-in-a-tv-show

ThePinkBiscuit · 11/10/2024 19:07

CanINapNow · 11/10/2024 18:54

I felt just the same reading the article about this! I don’t know why but it really bugged me and I keep thinking about it. Her ‘woe is me’ attitude at being paid megabucks to present a lovely show is astounding. She was complaining that she had to chat to the contestants ffs! I bet Noel was glad to see the back of her

did you actually read the article?!

she was saying that it was painful to spend hours watching others eat cake that she wasn’t permitted to try!

It was sort of a jokey “it was tortuous!” interview

KarmaKat · 11/10/2024 18:59

She’s allowed an opinion of her own experience.

CanINapNow · 11/10/2024 18:54

I felt just the same reading the article about this! I don’t know why but it really bugged me and I keep thinking about it. Her ‘woe is me’ attitude at being paid megabucks to present a lovely show is astounding. She was complaining that she had to chat to the contestants ffs! I bet Noel was glad to see the back of her

ScentOfSawdust · 11/10/2024 18:48

T4phage · 11/10/2024 18:14

She's always struck me as being the sort of person who thinks rather too much of herself.

I’ve met her a few times and you’re dead right.

She was not a good fit for Bake Off. The best presenters are the ones who form a relationship with the contestants, but I don’t think she would have been comfortable with that.

PyongyangKipperbang · 11/10/2024 18:46

PaminaMozart · 11/10/2024 17:06

I do not give a toss about ST and GBBO.

However, she dropped WAY down in my estimation when she started talking nonsense about gender politics and getting on a soapbox claiming that Transwomen are Women.

I was a member of the Womens Equality Party that she co founded, and cancelled my membership after she climbed on that particular bandwagon and was very very clear why.

No interest in her after that.

StMarieforme · 11/10/2024 18:40

All tv is made for profit?
I love the show. It's one of the only things DD27 and I sit and watch together, followed by extra slice, then Gogglebox, all on a Sunday night.
Sandi's allowed to not have loved it. She's allowed to not be besties with an ex colleague.
It's just a show after all.

magicstar1 · 11/10/2024 18:34

I’ve never liked her. I remember her on No. 73 when I was a child, and I couldn’t stand her. She ruined bake off for me, and I’m so glad she’s gone.

SunsetSkylane · 11/10/2024 18:33

Well she's always been inordinately self-satisfied and delighted with herself really, hasn't she.

youheard · 11/10/2024 18:32

Sandi's nickname in the industry is Sandi Toxic and it is well deserved. She's done everything she can to slag off Noel Fielding, who is lovely and was very let down by her refusal to help him out on the show. I work in telly and know what I'm talking about.

shesamarshmallow · 11/10/2024 18:26

I doubt Sandi Toksvig has a mortgage to pay off

RedToothBrush · 11/10/2024 18:16

I think her brain rotted BEFORE she went on Bake Off. She certainly doesn't have the brain power to work out tact. She's too busy trying to signal how clever she is...

SassK · 11/10/2024 18:15

She's a sanctimonious bore.

T4phage · 11/10/2024 18:14

She's always struck me as being the sort of person who thinks rather too much of herself.

AmusedMaker · 11/10/2024 18:10

I’ve never liked her and never understood how she ‘made it’. She’s not funny in the slightest.

ThePinkBiscuit · 11/10/2024 18:09

to start a thread on the basis of reading some quotes rather than actually reading the article 🙄

Crikeyalmighty · 11/10/2024 18:09

It's a job and she's being honest about why she left- would bore me rigid too - she's no doubt well enough off to have options - so why do stuff that bores you rigid if you done need to

Prescottdanni123 · 11/10/2024 18:06

@eatreadsleeprepeat

It is quite common for people to not watch themselves on telly.

mondaytosunday · 11/10/2024 18:03

It was hardly a full time job, just a few weeks - easy money I would have thought with good visability but plenty of time to do more 'serious' work (QI)? She's primarily a writer isn't she? I enjoyed her on the show. Too bad she didn't enjoy it herself.

eatreadsleeprepeat · 11/10/2024 18:03

I would rather see people express honest views rather than have shows turned into national institutions which we are so attached to that we don’t look behind the scenes.
Also Prue Leith says she seldom watches the show, but I guess this wasn’t picked up by the tabloids so didn’t get the same pile on.

CabraCadabra · 11/10/2024 18:03

Hungrycaterpillarsmummy · 11/10/2024 17:08

Wasn't she on Gogglebox? The epitome of brain rot TV that she wanted to feature in.

Yes. I didn't like the way she spoke to her partner sometimes.

AutumnMagpies · 11/10/2024 18:02

Ive never liked her.

Prescottdanni123 · 11/10/2024 18:02

@Frankensteinslittlefriend

Of course not🙄but one of the main reasons for being there was to interact with them. I get that there periods of time that were quite boring, but there were better ways of wording it than that.

LostTheMarble · 11/10/2024 18:02

Flumpi · 11/10/2024 17:59

And I’m just going to put it out there, love Noel and have fancied him for years - slag him off and I’ll fight ya 🤣🤣🤣

Ooh he’s another one who’s gone way down in my estimation…

SmileyHappyPeopleInTheSun · 11/10/2024 18:02

Flumpi · 11/10/2024 17:59

And I’m just going to put it out there, love Noel and have fancied him for years - slag him off and I’ll fight ya 🤣🤣🤣

I think he annoys some competitors at stressful moments and takes fooling around too far when then are under stress - so get some teeth gritting and the the "funny bits" can be very tedious.

I'm not saying he's a terrible persons or not good looking - but a bad fit for the show and some of that is probably the behind scene directions he gets.