Great British Bake Off: David Dimbleby 'rants about show's value for money' amid BBC exit
DAVID DIMBLEBY has allegedly made his feelings on the Great British Bake Off crystal clear - implying its hefty price tag does not make it "value for money".
Mel and Sue open up Bake Off with HILARIOUS baking song
The hugely popular programme has left the BBC after the corporation reportedly failed to meet a £25 million per series demand by makers Love Productions, instead offering around £15 million and eventually being outbid by Channel 4.
Question Time host Dimbleby, 77, is said by the Daily Mail to have been recorded backstage arguing that even £15 million is too much for the programme.
"Have you noticed how television’s in the news this week? The Great British Bake Off … it looks as though the Great British Bake Off costs, for one hour of television, £500,000," he said.
"That is ten times what one edition of Question Time costs."
If you’re looking for value for money, you would say, 'Well, if a programme costs ten times an hour what another programme costs, then it should deliver ten times the audience'
He added: "But if you’re looking for value for money, you would say, 'Well, if a programme costs ten times an hour what another programme costs, then it should deliver ten times the audience'.
"That would mean an audience of something like 35 million people, half the country, which they don’t get of course."
Instead, Bake Off reaches around 10 million viewers a week, peaking at 15 million during last year's final.
The move to Channel 4 has caused uproar all week, with hosts Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins already confirming that they will not "follow the dough" to the programme's new home.
The jury is still seemingly out on Paul Hollywood and Mary Berry, who are at least hearing out offers from both the BBC and Channel 4.
For now, the final BBC season of GBBO is nearing the half-way point.
Great British Bake Off continues Wednesdays at 8:00pm on BBC One.