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Great British Bake Off 2017: Prue Leith explains why she accidentally revealed the winner early

She initially said: ‘I’m in too much of a state to talk about it’

Jack Shepherd
Tuesday 31 October 2017 13:18 GMT
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GBBO: Twitter aghast at Prue Leith announcing the winner

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Prue Leith has spoken out after accidentally revealing the winner of this year’s Great British Bake Off just hours before airing on Channel 4.

Speaking about the incident moments after the offending Tweet was sent, the judge said: “I’m in too much of a state to talk about it.”

She later clarified on Twitter: “I am so sorry to the fans of the show for my mistake this morning, I am in a different time zone and mortified by my error.”

Channel 4 said there is no further comment. In a since-deleted message on the social media platform, Leith wrote: “No one told me judging a #gbbo final would be so emotional. I wanted them all to win. Bravo.” Leith then named the series winner.

To prevent spoilers spreading further The Independent has decided not to name the winner. The tweet has since been removed but a screenshot can be seen below.

Twitter was taken aback by the announcement, immediately picking up on the mistake, many posting pictures of former judge Mary Berry.

“Oh my word,” wrote one social media user. “Obviously a mistake but Prue Leith has just ruined tonight’s GBBO final for me and whoever else saw her tweet that’s just been deleted.”

Another added: “I can’t believe Prue just did that. I bet she was doing a scheduled tweet for later so she didn’t have to watch live.” Read the full reaction here.

This isn’t the first time a Bake Off result has accidentally been announced early; during the 2015 series, Berry revealed one result a week early when giving an interview on the radio.

Meanwhile, Steven Carter-Bailey, Sophie Faldo, and Kate Lyon are the three finalists fighting to win the series. Catch up on everything that happened last week with our review.

The Bake Off finale will air tonight on Channel 4 at 8pm. Love Productions have been contacted for comment.

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