‘She’s like a cake in herself, isn’t she?’ Alison Hammond and Nigella Lawson share candid insight into first impressions of each other

Bake Off is about to kick off for an all-new series on September 22, and there's one thing that viewers can't stop talking about - the fabulous Nigella Lawson taking over as judge from the departing Prue Leith.

After it was announced that Nigella would be joining the long-running baking competition, debate erupted over how she'd fit in with existing judge Paul Hollywood, and hosts Alison Hammond and Noel Fielding.

Both Paul and Nigella have already shut down rumours of a feud between the pair of them, and now, Nigella and Alison have revealed their candid first impressions of working together.

During a video shared to Instagram, the duo are asked to "spill the tea" on their initial reaction to each other. Without missing a beat, Nigella replies, "Love. Deep love at first sight."

She confirms, "It was love at first sight and we haven't stopped talking since." Alison shares, "I joined Bake Off for the cake - that's literally why I joined, but now we've got Nigella, and she's like a cake in herself isn't she?"

When asked to reveal something surprising about filming the series, Nigella reveals, "You don't have an ear piece, you don't have anyone to tell you what to say."

She continues, "We can just babble away." Alison says she was surprised at "how blue Paul Hollywood's eyes were," although she's had a little time to get used to this now.

"I fell into them," she says of Paul's famous dazzling eyes, asking Nigella, "did you fall into them?" Sweetly, Nigella replies, "Well, I've totally fallen into your eyes, so don't expect me to be totally available to everyone."

"Do you see what I'm saying? She's a girl's girl," Alison enthuses about her new co-star. Eventually, Nigella admits, "Paul's eyes are magnificent - but they are sometimes quite frightening."

Enthusiastically, Alison shares that she was taken by surprise that "we could eat whatever we wanted" during filming. Nigella's humorous, but true, response to this is, "But if you can't eat cake on Bake Off, then the universe would implode upon itself."

Those commenting on the post had nothing but positive things to say about the two women and the energy they'll undoubtedly bring to the new series of the competition.

One person shared that Nigella joining the show will inspire her to tune in when it airs. She wrote, "And this will be the very first Bake Off I’ll watch, because of Nigella and of course, I'll love seeing Alison on it too."

Somebody else wrote, "Wait, these two together? My heart can't handle this legendary combo!" while another chipped in, "Is Nigella is the most charming woman ever? Swoon."

Another fan says, "Nigella has the most incredible energy and sense of humour. I can’t wait to see her in this season."

Bake Off airs from September 22 on channel 4.