With the Great British Bake Off well underway, HELLO! sat down for a chat with one of last year's fan favourites, Benjamina Ebuehi, to talk about the new presenters, how it felt to bake for Mary Berry, and what it was really like behind-the-scenes of the hit baking show!
Benjamina, who is the new ambassador for Bacofoil, spoke fondly of her time on the show but said that nerves can hit hard in the first few weeks. "I think the whole experience was a lot more intense than I thought it would be," she explained. "I thought watching [that] it looks crazy, but being in it… there're a lot more cameras than I thought there would be, there's just a lot more people and just all the runners and the camera workers and the sound guys."
Benjamina was a contestant on a baking show in 2016
The baker revealed that she has been enjoying the new series, and praised Noel Fielding and Sandi Toksvig after the pair replaced Sue Giedroyc and Sue Perkins. "I didn't know what to think, I will say," she admitted. "I was a bit like, 'I'm not sure, I don't know how's it going to go, are they going to change a lot of things?' But watching it it's pretty much the same, I think a lot of people were almost surprised because it's the same show, which is good." She added: "I had to watch I think mainly for the bakers. They are part of the baking family, I know exactly how they are feeling and you just want that support, so I had to watch and just you know cheer them on and see what they create."
Benjamina praised the show on Channel 4
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Speaking about baking for Mary, Benjamina gushed: "Week one it was just, 'Oh my gosh, Mary Berry is actually eating something I have made, oh my gosh, I hope she likes it, I hope she likes it, I hope she likes it'. Yes it was a little bit scary at first but she is just so lovely and she will always find something positive to say on what you have done." Speaking about Mel and Sue's presence on set, she added: "Whether it's making you laugh or just, you know, pinching some of your food they are about and it just adds to the mood, so especially like when your super stressed and you're like, 'It's going wrong, oh my god I'm going to die, they're just like, 'Pull yourself together girl.'"