Prue Leith is scared she'll be a flop if she takes over from Mary Berry on the 'Great British Bake Off'.

Prue Leith

Prue Leith

The 77-year-old restaurateur is heavily tipped to replace the culinary queen on the baking show later this year but she's terrified that she won't be able to live up to expectations and will hit the headlines like Chris Evans did when he failed to impress viewers with his hosting on 'Top Gear' last year.

Speaking at the Romantic Novel of the Year Awards on Monday (13.03.17), she said: "I'd love to star in '...Bake Off', it would be ridiculous to pretend that I didn't want to do it.

"They've said they'll let everyone know soon. I have some hopes of doing it soon. I have been through interviews and meetings but realistically they've only casted Paul Hollywood because he's there already. They still need to replace Mel and Sue, and [find] Mary Berry's replacement.

"If they like me, and they appear to, they need to make sure that the other two fit. So I don't imagine anything will be announced until their replacements are found. But I haven't signed anything. Everything you read is not true. It's a bit scary following Mary, but I don't want to do a Chris Evans."

Although it looks like bosses have found their replacement for Mary, they're still tasked with finding hosts following Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins' departure but have confirmed the line up will be announced in "due course."

A Channel 4 spokesman said: "We will announce the line-up for the next series of The 'Great British Bake Off' in due course."

The 'Great British Bake Off' hit the headlines in September last year when it was announced that Love Productions - the makers of the series - had chosen to accept a three-year deal from Channel 4 after negotiations between them and the BBC broke down because they weren't willing to offer a large enough sum.

Within hours of the news breaking, Mel and Sue - who have fronted the programme since it first hit screens six years ago - revealed they had quit their roles as hosts in order to explore other ventures.

A few days later, Mary decided she too would step down as a judge on the show out of "loyalty" to the BBC, while her co-judge Paul , 50, caused a storm when he accepted Channel 4's offer to remain with the series.

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