I had no interest in cakes before Celebrity Bake Off – then suddenly I was in the running to replace Sandi Toksvig

The best of Voices delivered to your inbox every week - from controversial columns to expert analysis Sign up for our free weekly Voices newsletter for expert opinion and columns Sign up to our free weekly Voices newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Once upon a time, when she was around four, my daughter came home from a friend’s house and informed me that “you can actually make cakes in your own house”. “OK,” she sighed as I began to gibber, “don’t worry.” That evening, a delivery arrived from a certain well-known supermarket containing not only a vast selection of baking ingredients but stuff like baking trays and a rolling pin; it felt like I’d taken a delivery of someone else’s life. At the end of round one, I received a pre-coronavirus era handshake from Paul Hollywood for my ginger and orange giant Frida Kahlo biscuit; this was followed by a vaguely successful stab at mille-feuille, which I’ve never been able to pronounce, never mind make; and finally, I managed to pull off a messy but colourful “perfect day” showstopper. I watched the show feeling slightly gutted until the baking high jinks were paused for “Emily’s story”, which told us in a few brutally short minutes how a very young woman with everything to live for lost her life to skin cancer.