Interview with Caroline Quentin

24 March 2020

Can you bake? Rate yourself out of 10.

No, I can’t. I’d maybe give myself a one. My husband’s a very good baker. He does all the baking at home – if there is any – because I’m a coeliac. I tend to avoid stuff like that, I don’t even buy it. Because at my age I don’t need the sugar, quite frankly! So I’m not a baker at all, and this is going to be a proper challenge for me. I can cook, just not bake. I don’t have the maths, apart from anything else.

Are you a Bake Off fan?

I haven’t seen it a huge amount – I’ve seen it occasionally, but I’m not someone who watches telly all the time. I’ve seen it, and really enjoyed the ones I’ve seen, but I’m not someone who has to catch it every week. A lot of my friends religiously watch it. They’re so thrilled I’m here. I’m not sure I’ve ever done a job that’s made people as happy as this.

Have you been nervous about appearing on the show?

Yeah, really nervous. I wasn’t nervous before I got here – I was absolutely fine – but when I got into the tent, I thought I was going to shit myself, and I started to shake and everything. It was really weird. I have no idea why! I’ve done TV all my life!

Who do you want to impress the most? Paul or Prue?

Prue, I think. I have her book at home, and I use it as my bible. Her bible is my bible. I don’t use it for baking, but I use it for everything else.

Who do you see as your biggest competition?

They’re all my biggest competition. I’m sort of in a class of my own, in that tent, and not in a good way!

Have you had any baking or culinary disasters in the past?

Yes. I still do! Because I don’t measure. I can put a meal together, and I’m good with stuff I’ve done before, but if I’m trying a new recipe, I always go off piste, and it really annoys my family.

For someone who really doesn’t like baking, why are you doing this show?

I am President of Coeliac UK, and apart from supporting Stand Up to Cancer, I want to raise awareness about coeliac disease. It’s an autoimmune disease – people often think it’s an allergy – and it can affect you very seriously. In terms of fertility and osteoporosis, and they’re finding more and more connections with Alzheimer’s and degenerative brain diseases. It’s something we’ve got to start taking seriously.

And why is Stand Up to Cancer important to you?

I’m of an age now where I’ve lost lots of people to cancer, and I have friends who are currently coping with treatment. It’s a vicious old thing, and I think anything any of us can do to fight that is wonderful. I think it’s important not to be ruled by cancer, and that’s why I like Stand Up to Cancer’s attitude: It’s a shitty disease, but we are going to do our level best to overcome it.

Have you practised your bakes for today?

Yes, I practiced my signature bake, and I half-practiced my show-stopper. I did a half-hearted version of that, because I’d never really made a sponge before. It’s quite hard, I now realise. Particularly in a gluten-free sponge where you use oil. The thing I’m good at is sculpting – I know I can sculpt a bit. And do a bit with the icing and stuff, so I shall rely on my artistic talents and not my baking.

Did you get any advice when you were preparing for this show?

My husband said to me “Don’t try and do anything clever.”

Are you competitive? Do you want to be star baker?

Oh yes. That’s what’s really tragic for me today. I’m massively competitive, and I’m also massively shit. I’m on a hiding to nothing. At the end of the day I’m going to be disappointed and quite cross about the whole thing.                                                                       

How do you feel about the technical challenge?

Well, all baking is a technical challenge as far as I’m concerned. They can’t throw anything worse than a choux pastry at me, can they? To be honest, it’s all impossible for me, so it doesn’t really matter. It’s just me following another recipe I don’t understand, using skills I don’t have. In front of so many people. So millions of people are going to watch me being rubbish.

If you were a baked good, what would you be?

I’m going to think about that much longer that I should do… (thinks)… I know what I’d be. I’d be a Victoria Sponge, because that’s my husband’s favourite.