“He can often play the bad cop and give that laser stare, but he’s always completely himself—and that encourages everyone around him to do the same,” Lawson said. “We balance each other out. He gets straight to the point, while, as you can probably tell, I’m a witterer. I love talking about food and sometimes I just can’t stop.”
Although her talent for talking about food has served her well, Lawson acknowledged that she was “apprehensive at first” about stepping into Leith’s role.
“I wasn’t sure I was qualified, and I understood that it was a risk for both me and the show,” she said. “I had a big meeting with the producers and told them, ‘These are the things I can’t do.’ They replied, ‘That’s OK—that’s what Paul does.’”
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“I didn’t want them to go to the wrong shop, so to speak,” she added. “I’m not a scientist, a technician or a professional baker. What I can do is talk about food—its taste, its texture and why I like it.”
Great British Bake Off season 17 premieres on the U.K.’s Channel 4 on Sept. 22 at 8 p.m. BST, followed by its U.S. debut on Netflix on Sept. 25. Until then, read on for more exciting TV premiere dates…