I make myself eat one piece of toast for breakfast. When I’m doing ‘Bake Off,’ I eat soup for lunch. I know what puts on weight for me; it’s just over-indulgence. – Mary Berry
Dad thought something very fishy was going on when, at 22, I was offered a job for รด?1,000 a year – more than Dad paid his own staff – for inventing cheese recipes and writing leaflets at the Dutch Dairy Bureau in London. – Mary Berry
I was rather hopeless at school, but the one subject I seemed to be good at was domestic science. – Mary Berry
‘The Great British Bake Off’ is family entertainment. There aren’t many programmes where all ages can sit and watch from beginning to end. Everything else is violent, cruel, and noisy. We’re educational without viewers realising it. – Mary Berry
It should be that every child, when they leave school, can do ten meals, because when they leave home, they’ve got to be able to eat healthily. Blow the science of it and everything else. They’ve just got to be able to know what’s good for them, how to buy it, and how to make a few dishes that they enjoy and don’t cost too much. – Mary Berry
I think to eat cake is very good for us, but it’s the size of the slice and how often you have it. – Mary Berry
I am not great at computers. If I were to try shopping through Google, I’d end up with 33 vests. – Mary Berry
I never fry a doughnut! If you want a doughnut, go and buy one once in a blue moon. It’s about everything in moderation. – Mary Berry
I eat carefully because people don’t want to see a large person judging cakes. They’ll think to themselves, ‘That’s what happens when you eat cake.’ – Mary Berry
I’m just very grateful that the media has been so kind to me, because there’s nothing unusual about me. I’m just a mum and a granny who is teaching cookery on TV. Basically, I’m very ordinary. – Mary Berry
My husband is not in the slightest bit domesticated, but as the years go, by he’s getting better. He can make an excellent omelette. – Mary Berry
I am a bit of a mother hen at Christmas! I always prepare in advance. It is the only way; otherwise, it can be really daunting. – Mary Berry
Family life is fragmenting in this modern age, but it’s up to all of us to keep it together. – Mary Berry
I won’t do ‘Strictly’ or any of those ghastly reality programmes. ‘I’m a Celebrity’ would be the end. It makes me shudder. – Mary Berry
I don’t like showing cleavage because I get cold, and if I had fantastic legs, I might wear short skirts – but I think at 78, one’s got to act one’s age. – Mary Berry
I was brought up to believe that it’s family first. Of all the people my parents knew, the family was most important. You always turn to your family, and the family supports you. We do what we can to support our young and go and see the grandchildren if they’re doing plays at school and their sports events. – Mary Berry
To be able to walk out the door when you come home from a job and wander into the garden to do a bit of watering gives you time to be creative in your mind. – Mary Berry
I hate Gordon Ramsay’s programmes: I don’t know if he’s been told it makes good television. – Mary Berry
I can’t bear the thought of retirement, and I haven’t prepared myself for it. I don’t play bridge, and I don’t play golf. I do play tennis, but you can’t do that every day of the week. – Mary Berry
What a privilege and honour it has been to be part of seven years of magic in a tent – ‘The Great British Bake Off.’ – Mary Berry
Our aim is to get people to enjoy ‘Bake Off’ at home and for our bakers to enjoy what they are doing. We don’t want to catch them out. It’s a very happy occasion, and it’s about encouraging people to bake at home. – Mary Berry
At 17, I went away to Pau in the south of France for a few months to study domestic science – including cleaning windows with newspaper and water – while living with a Catholic family with 10 children. – Mary Berry
Reluctant as I am to regard myself as a style icon, I would love to think I could inspire older women to make the most of themselves. – Mary Berry
I hope that I dress for my age. Because there’s no need to be dowdy, is there? But I don’t go with all the colours that everybody is wearing. I’m not very fond of lime green or orange, so I don’t do that. I read all the fashion magazines, but most things are totally unsuitable for somebody of 79. – Mary Berry
I usually wear only a bit of pink lippy, but for TV, they add a few extra lashes to brighten my eyes and some colour to my face, as without it, I look pale and uninteresting. – Mary Berry
I would always stand up for women, but I don’t want women’s rights and all that sort of thing. I love to have men around, and I suppose if you’re a true feminist, you get on and do it yourself. I love it when someone says, ‘I’ll get your coat’ or, ‘I’ll look after you’, or offers you a seat on the bus. I’m thrilled to bits. I’m not a feminist. – Mary Berry