'Great British Bake Off', Nigella Lawson head up Food on BBC Two

Mary Berry's Great British Bake Off and Nigella Lawson's Nigellissima will head up a new selection of BBC Two food shows, announced this afternoon by the channel's controller Janice Hadlow.

Other programmes unveiled include new series from the Hairy Bikers, Rick Stein and Ken Hom and Ching-He Huang.


[Nigella Lawson - Great British Bake-Off]

Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins will return to host a third series of the BAFTA-nominated amateur cookery series Great British Bake Off, which will feature cookery writer Berry and acclaimed Master Baker Paul Hollywood judging the cakes, pastries and bread-making skills of 12 home cooks.

Lawson's new series Nigellissima will air in the autumn and will feature her unique take on Italian food.

"When I went to live in Italy when young, I said I'd do anything but clean lavatories; as a chambermaid in Florence, that is what I ended up doing! But I also learned about real Italian food, and by the time I'd left I had found my spiritual and gastronomic home," said Lawson.

"I wanted to make a series of my sort of Italian food, inspired by the ethos and the ingredients but fused with the way we live our lives, here, in the UK. I care about ease and accessibility, but I care most about passion and taste and it is these crucial Italian factors, I want to bring to the table and the television!"

Other shows launching on the channel include Ken Hom and Ching-He Huang's Eat, Drink, Cook China and The Hairy Bikers' How To Love Food And Lose Weight project, which will aim to get the British public leading healthier lives.