- Matt Lucas spoke about his short-lived tenure hosting "The Great British Baking Show."
- The comedian said on "Deeney Talks" that he "never saw the show beforehand" and was "not a baker."
Matt Lucas has spoken about his short-lived tenure hosting "The Great British Baking Show."
Appearing on British soccer star Troy Deeney's podcast, "Deeney Talks" on Tuesday, Lucas admitted that prior to taking over as cohost from Sandi Toksvig in 2020, he "never saw the show" and was "not a baker."
The 48-year-old comedian and actor presented three seasons of the show alongside Noel Fielding before announcing his departure from the beloved baking competition series in December 2022.
"They were just looking for a new host and it just came at a time where I had been living in LA for seven years and I just sold my house there and I was thinking about coming back and spending more time with my family and friends," he said.
The "Doctor Who" actor said that he was told that the production company behind the show, Love Productions, was particularly interested in him and wanted him to check out the show before saying no.
"So I watched a couple of episodes and thought, 'This is great but I don't want to host a TV show but thank you, I'm really grateful,'" said Lucas.
Even though he was convinced he wasn't going to audition for the show, Lucas said his agent encouraged him to at least take a meeting since the production company and the series' British broadcaster Channel 4 commission a lot of other shows as well.
"I went along with it, I got the job and then I was like, 'Oh, OK,'" he said. "It just kind of happened, it was exactly when the pandemic was."
Lucas said that it was the "perfect pandemic job," seemingly because it came at a time when a lot of production companies in the UK were either pausing or completely scrapping projects in light of the strict filming restrictions and the danger of catching COVID-19.
During the 2020 and 2021 seasons of the baking competition series, the presenters, judges, and contestants famously formed a self-contained biosphere by completely booking out a countryside hotel over the course of the show's filming.
"It was great, and I did it, and it was fun," the "Bridesmaids" actor continued. "I had a great time with Noel and I had a great time with Paul and Prue and the bakers were lovely and I learned a bit about baking,"
"I did 51 episodes and now it's time for someone else to do it," he said.
Announcing his exit on Instagram, Lucas said that filming "The Great British Baking Show" had been "a delicious experience and I can't imagine a more fun way of spending my summers."
He added: "I wish whoever takes over all the very best and I can't wait to tune into the next series without already knowing who won!"
Lucas's replacement for the upcoming series has not yet been announced, although showrunner and executive producer Richard McKerrow has shared that the show's new cohost will "look after the bakers during their experience and be curious about what they're baking and to do it with charm, humor, and kindness."