As the Great War of British Bake Off continues, Channel 4's position has become increasingly harried as the trinity that is Mel, Sue and Mary Berry have opted to stay with BBC.

However, reports surfaced online earlier in the week that Love Productions and Channel 4 had tapped none other than Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders to take over as hosts of GBBO, with Delia Smith to replace Mary Berry's role.

The reports gained a bit of traction, but now Channel 4 has officially deflated the whole thing like a badly baked souffle. "We are taking our time to find the right presenters and judges for Bake Off. We have not approached anyone about the roles."

To be fair, French & Saunders with Delia Smith would be an excellent shout, but it's unlikely that all three of them need to do GBBO in order to help their careers. Saunders is just coming off the back of the so-so AbFab movie, whilst Dawn French has a series lined up on Sky. Delia Smith, well, who knows.

As it stands, Channel 4 have no presenters or replacements lined up and word is that BBC is already working on a rival show which will likely star Mel, Sue and Mary Berry in some fashion.