'It can be a dark place': Adele Roberts reveals how Great British Bake Off helped with her cancer treatment
Adele Roberts has opened up about how taking part in The Great British Bake Off for Stand Up to Cancer helped make her 'feel alive again'. The Radio 1 DJ and former Big Brother star knows first-hand the incredible work that charities like Stand Up to Cancer carry out.
Currently in remission from the bowel cancer she was diagnosed with in October 2021, for which she underwent chemotherapy and an operation and was fitted with a stoma bag, she tells HELLO!: "I've been on the receiving end – luckily and thankfully – of the money that the show generations and cancer research helped save my life. I wanted to say thank-you and to give something back."
And taking part in the show provided an enormous distraction for Adele, as she was undergoing chemotherapy for her cancer during filming.
Adele Roberts shows off her cake in Bake Off tent
"It gave me something to look forward to. When you're going through treatment, you need things to keep you motivated and focused on mentally because otherwise you can go to a very dark place. Even practicing kept me motivated and inspired. The whole team and crew also really looked after me. They even made sure I had an ice machine because at the time I was overheating a lot."
With her trademark positivity, she continues: "i didn't feel my best and I was very tired. The skin on my hands and my feet was very sore so I needed oven gloves a lot but going into this bright, amazing tent with these inspirational people, and smelling delicious food, meant I just felt alive again."
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The atmosphere in the Bake Off tent is famously warm and supportive. And the celebrity version was the same, with Adele bonding with her fellow contestants, Olympic swimmer Tom Daley, actor David Morrissey and actress Lucy Beaumont.
The star shows off her baking skills to Paul Hollywood, Prue Leith and Matt Lucas
"We were allowed to talk and get advice from each other," the 44-year-old recalls. "So I kept turning around to ask Tom questions because he was the perfect student. He knew everything – he was even plaiting tings. David was so lovely and Lucy was hilarious; she just made the atmosphere amazing. We didn't stop laughing. Nobody minded who won as we were all rooting for each other."
The Great British Bake Off for Stand Up to Cancer is on Sundays at 7:40pm on Channel 4. To support, visit channel4.com/SU2C
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