Mel and Sue quit as hosts of Bake Off

Were not going with the dough. “We wish all the future bakers every success”.

The two presenters have been a formidable team, with their “good cop, bad cop” approach and their many double entendres.

Of Bake Off, Jamie said, “The whole family loves it”.

The BBC is said to have offered Love Production £15 million per year to keep the show, but the company would not accept offers below £25 million.

During negotiations about the show, the BBC fell £10m short of the amount of money required to keep it, BBC News understands. “In my heart, I’d defy anyone to say that its not a BBC show”, she said.

“BBC Worldwide continues to hold global format rights (excluding North America) for Bake Off for the next 12 years”, a spokesman told C21.

Since its debut on BBC Two in 2010, and subsequent move to BBC One in its fifth season, the baking contest has been one of the network’s greatest hits.

And then Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins sensationally quit as hosts sending the show into disarray.

They have previously worked on Channel 4 having started out on TV on C4’s comedy talk show, Light Lunch, between 1997 and 1998.

The channel move will see Bake Off remain on free-to-air television.

As the programme returned to screens on Wednesday night, fans said the show felt “bittersweet”, with viewers on Twitter speaking of their sadness and frustration.

Now, with the future of judges Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood still unclear, rumours of a replacement judge have begun to emerge.

BBC failed to reach an agreement with the shows creator, Love productions, who have signed a three-year deal with Channel 4.

However, it seems that her husband Paul Hunnings has spoken out on her behalf and has seeming confirmed that Mary is staying put and will NOT follow the show to Channel 4. It is believed Channel Four had offered £10m more than the BBC for the show.

Mrs Wallace said: “Some people say they are going to boycott the programme once it moves but that’s perhaps going too far”.

After all, Bake Off and the BBC are quintessentially British and therefore – I think – inextricably linked.