Sue Perkins made the decision to quit 'The Great British Bake Off' "in a heartbeat" when she was told it was moving to Channel 4.

Sue and Mel

Sue and Mel

The 47-year-old presenter - who has co-hosted the culinary contest since its inception alongside her comedy partner Mel Giedroyc -admitted she and her friend didn't need much time to consider their future on the show and is confident they have made the "right decision".

She told BBC Radio 5: "We made the decision that felt right for us, and it was made in a heartbeat, really.

"For us the show was best at its original home and we made no secret of the fact that that's where we wanted it to stay, and whilst I respect that it's moved on, it was easy... well I say easy, of course it's very sad to say goodbye to something you love, but it's definitely the right decision for us."

And Sue admitted she doesn't fully understand why the show is leaving the BBC.

She added: "Ultimately I'm not a business person and business people make business decisions.

"I am somebody who wants to play and be silly and that's not my world, so whilst it's painful and whilst I don't fully understand it, you have to respect the people that do business."

The popular presenter is thankful the new deal hadn't been signed while the show was being filmed, as it presented the most recent series from being tinged by nostalgia.

She said: "As far as I was concerned we'd be carrying on. So it's nice in a way, it wasn't filmed in a wistful way. It was filmed as business as usual, so there was no sense of what was to come when we were doing it."

Sue will always look back on the "unique" show with fondness.

She said: "I was delighted to be part of it. Certainly in my career it's the most extraordinary thing that I was gifted with... it was a very special, very unique, sort of mercurial show that had a sort of alchemy at its heart."

Mary Berry will also leave the show when it moves to its new home, though her co-judge Paul Hollywood has signed a contract to stay with the programme.

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