Great British Bake Off host Sandi Toksvig says that 16,000 people have applied to compete on the new series of the show.
Speaking on the BBC Breakfast show, Toksvig – who presents the Channel 4 series alongside Noel Fielding – said the show’s producers were holding auditions to whittle down that number.
She said: “They are doing the auditions at the minute for the new series. 16,000 people have applied. That’s the number of people who think, ‘Actually, I would be good’.”
Applications for the 10th series closed on January 6. Professional bakers and chefs were barred from entering the show, which moved from BBC One to Channel 4 in 2017.
The 60-year-old, who in 2016 took over from Stephen Fry as host of the BBC quiz show QI, also said she was “in love” with the “fantastic” Prue Leith – who judges Bake Off alongside Paul Hollywood.
She said: “It’s that lovely thing where you sort of have a bromance, don’t you, or a sistermance, or whatever the thing is with the people you are working with.
“And Prue and Paul, Prue in particular, I am in love with Prue Leith. That woman is just fantastic. She’s in her late 70s and she’s got more energy than the rest of us put together.”
The Great British Bake Off returns later this year.