David Farnor | On 28, Feb 2019

The Great British Bake Off’s celebrity special is returning to Channel 4 this March, with Russell Brand and James Acaster leading the line-up.

The Great Celebrity Bake Off for Stand Up To Cancer will bring together names from the worlds of acting, politics, comedy, sport and entertainment to compete in the GBBO tent and be crowned Star Baker.

John Lithgow, Jeremy Paxman, Sally Lindsay, Michelle Keegan, Jon Richardson, Russell Brand, Russell Tovey, Greg Wise, Jess Phillips MP, James Acaster, Big Narstie, Nicola Adams, Katarina Johnson-Thompson, Caroline Flack, Hannah Cockroft, Joe Wilkinson, Johnny Vegas, Georgia Toffolo, Krishnan Guru-Murthy, and Rylan Clark-Neal, will be joining Judges Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith, plus hosts Sandi Toksvig and Noel Fielding, for a five-part series.

Sarah Lazenby, Channel 4 Head of Formats and Features comments: “Stand Up To Cancer has become a force to be reckoned with in the fight against cancer. As part of the fundraising campaign this year’s special celebrity editions of Bake Off managed to raise millions of pounds to fund ground breaking cancer trials. We hope to do the same again next year with our brilliant line up of famous bakers – all of whom bring their unique skills to the infamous tent. Expect some great bakes, a dollop of disasters, and lots and lots of laughs.”

Launched in the UK in 2012, the joint national fundraising campaign from Cancer Research UK and Channel 4 raises funds for translational research, accelerating new cancer treatments and tests to UK patients to save more lives, more quickly. More than £38million has been raised in the UK to date and 35 trials and projects have been funded, with around 8,000 cancer patients either participating, or due to participate.

Kieran Smith, Executive Producer, Love Productions adds: “All of us have been affected by cancer in some way or other and Love are proud to once again partner with Stand Up To Cancer. We hope the prospect of 20 famous bakers sweating it out in our famous white tent proves hugely entertaining, but most importantly helps raise vital funds for a very worthwhile cause.”

The series will kick off with a bake sale classic – brownies. The technical challenge will be a handful, and there’ll be a tough showstopper challenge – a 3-d biscuit scene of their best performance.

The Great Celebrity Bake Off for Stand Up To Cancer starts Tuesday 5th March at 8pm on Channel 4.

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