‘I baked Noel a cake, but not Paul’: Nigella Lawson shares details of ‘bonding sessions’ she held with co-stars ahead of Bake Off launch

The wait has felt like forever, but a new series of Bake Off is finally here. And of course, the show is bringing with it an all-new judge in the form of Nigella Lawson.

While public speculation has mounted over how well existing judge Paul Hollywood and hosts Alison Hammond and Noel Fielding will gel with the show's new recruit, Nigella has been happy to open up about her relationship with the existing trio.

This includes sharing details of the "separate bonding sessions" she hosted with Paul, Alison and Noel individually ahead of the launch, to get to know them better and cement their chemistry ready for the show's September 22 release date.

"I decided to meet everyone properly before we started," she explains, continuing, "I didn’t want the first time we hung out together to be on set."

But while Nigella would've undoubtedly made the most excellent host for these get togethers, she baked Noel a cake as part of their session but refused to make one for Paul, calling this suggestion "madness."

"Noel came round for tea and I did make him a cake," Nigella says, in conversation with The Guardian. "I love Noel,” she continues, adding jokingly, "He and I look like two ghouls first thing in the morning" with Paul quipping, "Two goths, climbing out of your coffins."

When it came to having Paul over, Nigella provided drinks, "salami, olives, that kind of thing." She explains, "I wasn’t going to bake for him. That would be madness."

Paul reveals he was "disappointed" by this, saying, "thanks very much" when he found out Noel was gifted a cake. "I was hoping for a cake on a gingham altar," he says.

When it came to Alison Hammond, Nigella opted to make their bonding time slightly different.

She met Alison at the This Morning set and took her out to lunch. Speaking fondly about their restaurant date, Nigella shares, "I hitched a ride to the restaurant in her car and we were practically married by the time we arrived. We have a real laugh together and talked about everything."

Despite not wanting to bake for Paul, Nigella has been repeatedly forced to shut down rumours of a feud between the pair, and maintains they are completely on good terms.

"One of the many lovely things about Paul is that he’s good at being teased," Nigella says. Although she calls him "Professor Precision" and says he "often acts bad cop and does that laser stare," she argues that they "complement each other."

As the time approaches where viewers get to see the pair on screen for themselves, Nigella reveals she wouldn't normally watch herself on TV, but is willing to make an exception for Bake Off - and she's also offered hints about some of the high jinx audiences can expect to see from the judges and hosts once they tune in.

"I don’t like watching myself but I do want to see it because there’s an awful lot of action that we’re not around for," she says, with the caveat, "I’ll fast-forward through my bits and watch the bakers."

As for the bonding sessions, they definitely appear to have done the trick. "We sometimes did a bit too much rabbiting and got told to shush," Nigella shares of herself and her new co-stars, saying "even Paul got the giggles."

She continues, "Alison once sent us out of the tent in disgrace." However, she does try and maintain balance between having lots of giggly fun and staying professional.

Nigella concludes, "As judges, we need to retain a modicum of decorum and dignity… we try, anyway."

Bake Off airs on Channel 4 from September 22.