Let’s set the oven timer back to 2016. That’s the year everything changed. The show, beloved on BBC, made a dramatic move to Channel 4. And Mary, the steady hand with the perfect sponge recipe, decided not to follow.
She didn’t just leave; she walked out the tent door with a clatter of measuring cups. Her departure was announced in summer 2016, right after the BBC series ended. The final episode she judged aired in October 2016. So, the short answer? She left in 2016, officially after Series 7.
Why the Sudden Break-up?
It wasn’t a soggy-bottom drama, thank goodness. The real reason was the channel switch. The BBC couldn’t keep the show, Channel 4 snatched it up, and Mary—along with hosts Mel and Sue—said “ta-ta” to the move.
Mary was reportedly loyal to the BBC’s ethos. She also felt the show’s soul might shift. “I feel it’s the right time to step down,” she said at the time, very politely. But you could almost hear the collective gasp of a nation putting down their wooden spoons.
And let’s be honest: who wanted to judge in a tent without Mel and Sue’s terrible puns? Mary’s exit was a package deal with the hosts. It wasn’t just a baker leaving; it was a whole cozy ecosystem collapsing.
