Great British Bake Off: James Acaster responds to rumors he’s replacing Matt Lucas

James Acaster has responded to rumors that he will replace Matt Lucas as the new presenter The Great British Bake Off.

After announcing in December that the Lesser Britain Star is retiring from the baking competition series, many fans had begun to speculate as to who would replace him, with Acaster being among the rumored frontrunners.

Appears on The Jonathan Ross Show On Saturday (March 11), stand-up comedian Acaster – who made a memorable appearance on the celebrity edition of Stand Up to Cancer in 2019 – spoke alongside Prue Leith about his alleged involvement.

“No one has spoken to me about it, and rightly so,” he said.

“It was traumatic what happened to me in that tent. I think if I were one of the presenters, I would have flashbacks and total meltdowns all the time, and I don’t think that’s very relaxing for the participants.”

When asked about his time on the show, Acaster said he “can’t remember most of the things that happened.”

During filming of the talk show, the comic added, “Listen, if they approach me, I would take them as long as possible, get there that day, say ‘Suck it,’ and go home.”

Acaster appeared in the second celebrity series of baking on Channel 4, with a scene in which he presented his flapjacks to the judges saying, ‘Started making it. Had a breakdown. Bon appetit” becomes a meme.

Acaster discussed his experience with Bake Off on his food podcast off menu and in his comedy special Cold Lasagna Hate Me 1999in which he explained that he struggled with his mental health during filming.

In February, Lucas admitted in an interview that he had seen it baking as a “pandemic job” and had “never seen the show” before he was approached to star in it.

Richard Ayoade, Shaparak Khorsandi and Sara Pascoe are among the other names reportedly in the running to replace Lucas.