Matt Lucas Announces Exit From The Great British Baking Show

Matt Lucas has left the tent for good, as he announced his exit from The Great British Baking Show Dec. 6. Read the presenter's full statement here.

By Alyssa Ray Dec 06, 2022 7:24 PMTags
Watch: Find Out Why Matt Lucas Is Leaving The Great British Baking Show

Matt Lucas will not return to the tent.

The British comedian, who has presented The Great British Baking Show alongside Noel Fielding since 2020, taking over from Sandi Toksvig, announced his departure from the cooking competition series Dec. 6. Though Matt said he had a "delicious experience" filming The Great British Baking Show, he explained that another opportunity forced him to walk away from the show.

"It's become clear to me that I can't present both Fantasy Football League and Bake Off alongside all my other projects," he wrote on Twitter. "So after three series and 51 episodes, I am cheerfully passing the baguette on to someone else."

After thanking the cast and crew, including his co-presenter Noel and judges Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith, Matt shared he was excited to tune into the next chapter "without already knowing who won."

As for who will replace Matt on The Great British Baking Show? That has yet to be announced.

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Matt's exit follows a controversial season for the baking competition. Specifically, many viewers were outraged following the show's "Mexican Week" episode, in which Matt and Noel wore sarapes and sombreros and made heavily-criticized jokes.

One viewer tweeted Oct. 8, "16 seconds into the Mexican Week ep of #GBBO and I'm already offended." Another commented alongside a scene of Matt shaking maracas, "I just want y'all to understand *how* f--king racist this is."

Following the backlash, Prue told The New Yorker Oct. 23, "There would have been absolutely no intention to offend. That's not the spirit of the show."

Mark Bourdillon/Netflix

The restaurateur went on to reflect the positive affect The Great British Baking Show has had during its tenure on the air. "This is rather a cliché thing to say, but I do think that it is a force for good, most of the time," she added. "Everything we do in life is a bit stressful—we are always short of time, we're short of money, there are all sorts of horrible things happening all over the world. And Bake Off is this safe space where the worst thing that can happen is somebody will drop their bake."

You can catch up on The Great British Baking Show on Netflix now.

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