Great British Bake Off presenters Mel and Sue hit out at underdone biography

An unauthorised biography of The Great British Bake Off presenters Mel and Sue by a former tabloid journalist has taken the biscuit, according to their agents.

The representatives of the duo – Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins – criticised the soon-to-be released book by Tina Campanella, who used to write for the News of the World, for piggybacking on the popularity of the show.

“I’d hate for fans to be ripped off by this,” said Debi Allen, who represents Perkins. “Tina Campanella hasn’t spoken to anyone as far as we can tell, this is just a cheap cuttings job.”

Giedroyc’s agent expressed concern over the £18 cover price of the biography. “I’d hate for anybody to pay up to £18 just to read recycled bits of the interviews they’ve given over the years,” said Samira Higham.

“It’s going to be a terribly artificial book. And there’s nothing on the cover to suggest this is not an authorised biography,” she told the website Chortle. Sold as “the first biography of the cake-loving stars”, the book will be released on 2 October and follows the increasing popularity of Bake Off, which recently attracted more than 10 million viewers for an episode where a contestant binned their baked Alaska.

A spokesperson from the book’s publishers, John Blake Publishing, said the book would be “clearly labelled as an unauthorised biography so there can be no confusion about the contents”. They added: “This is a highly affectionate biography written by a genuine fan of Sue and Mel.”