Mary Berry – former Great British Bake Off star and national treasure – has revealed she was once arrested in America. The 83-year-old opened up about her experience during an appearance on The Graham Norton Show, as she appeared alongside Benedict Cumberbatch, Maxine Peake, Matt Le Blanc and Claudia Winkleman. "I was arrested 25 years ago," Mary confessed. "I was going to the US to do some cookery demonstrations and was worried that there might be problems. So I weighed out all the ingredients – flour, sugar – and put them all in little plastic bags.
Mary Berry appeared on The Graham Norton Show with Claudia Winkleman
"When I arrived at the airport, the sniffer dogs made a bee-line for me. Suddenly I was surrounded by uniformed people and my assistant and I were put in separate cells. It was alarming. When I was asked if I was going to make money from the stuff, I said, 'I do and my fee has already been agreed.'"
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Mary appeared on the show with Claudia to talk about their new TV project, BBC One's Britain's Best Home Cook, with Claudia admitting: "I didn’t ask anything about it [the series] once I knew Mary was on board. I just wanted to be with her!"
The duo joined a star-studded line-up
Benedict, meanwhile, appeared on the show to talk about his new film, Avengers: Infinity War. He told host Graham: "I was allowed to read the whole script so I do know what is happening but I can't tell you about it. What I can say it that I am helping the worlds and worlds beyond it – potentially." Asked if it would be the end for his character Doctor Strange and possibly some other superheroes, he shrugged and teased: "Let that rumour take flight. This film is so shrouded in secrecy."
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The Graham Norton Show, BBC One, Friday 20th April 10.35pm