The Great Celebrity Bake Off for Stand Up to Cancer

Paul Hollywood (Judge)

Born: March 01, 1966 in Wallasey, Merseyside

Best Known For: The Great British Bake Off.

Early-life: Paul John Hollywood was born in Wallasey, Merseyside, on March 1, 1966. He studied sculpture at the Wallasey School of Art before quitting to work at his father's bakery.

Career: Hollywood went on to become head baker at a number of hotels, including The Dorchester, Chester Grosvenor and Spa and the Clivedon Hotel. He began making a number of guest appearances on TV shows such as The Generation Game, This Morning, and The Alan Titchmarsh Show. His big break came in 2010 when he started working alongside fellow judge Mary Berry on popular BBC Two baking show The Great British Bake Off. In May 2013, he began appearing on US TV as a judge on The American Baking Competition.

Quote: "The real Paul Hollywood is shy, likes nothing better than going home, putting on slippers and dressing gown, having a cup of tea and watching telly."

Trivia: Hollywood has written a number of books on baking, including 100 Great Breads, How to Bake, and American Baking Competition.

Prue Leith (Judge)

Born: February 18, 1940 in Cape Town, South Africa

Best Known For: Being a judge on The Great British Bake Off.

Early-life: Born Prudence Margaret Leith in South Africa in 1940. Her mother, Margaret Inglis, was a successful actress and, according to Prue, the 'worst cook in the world'. Prue had a very happy childhood, although she has said that if she could give her teenage self one piece of advice, it would be to be more sensitive to the inequalities of apartheid-era South Africa. She left school with no real idea of what she wanted to do _ she toyed with becoming an actress, architect or an artist. It was only while studying in Paris to improve her French that she discovered her love of cooking and realised she wanted a career in food.

Career: In 1960, Prue arrived in London to attend the Cordon Bleu Cookery School. She went on to launch her own catering business and restaurant, as well as a cookery school. She also became a successful food writer, with columns in many national papers, and penned novels as well as cook books. Prue didn't enjoy her first TV experience, which saw her hosting a personality magazine show, but in the personality she found success as a judge on BBC's Great British Menu. She left the show after 11 years, intending to retire, only to land her most high-profile TV job to date when she took over from her friend Mary Berry as a judge on The Great British Menu.

Quote: "My very first book, Leigh's All-Party Cookbook, had the dedication, ‘For my mother, who can't cook for toffee, but gave marvellous parties anyway'. I wanted to make the point that food isn't the only thing that goes into a party - your friends have not come to judge you."

Trivia: In July 2017, she was installed as the Chancellor of Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh.

Noel Fielding (Presenter)

Born: May 21, 1973 in London

Best Known For: The Mighty Boosh.

Early-life: Born May 21, 1973, in Westminster to 18-year-old parents who, despite the fact he was shy and introverted as a child, encouraged him in his desire to be an entertainer. He has revealed that they 'had a lot of parties' but has not spoken much about his youth, except to say that although he wasn't keen on their lifestyle at the time, he now admits they inspired his unusual fashion sense. He was educated at Croydon Art College and Buckinghamshire Chilterns University College (now Buckinghamshire New University) before embarking on a stand-up career.

Career: Fielding performed regularly as a stand-up comedian during the late 1990s, and appeared repeatedly on the TV stand-up showcase Lee Mack's Gas. He formed a short-lived but well-received comedy partnership with Russell Brand. His highly animated stand-up routine included surreal stories, physical comedy, characters, and songs, much like his later work alongside Julian Barratt in The Mighty Boosh, which became a monster hit when it moved to TV in 2004. He remains an active stand-up, has his own Channel 4 show (Noel Fielding's Luxury Comedy) and is a popular team captain on never Mind the Buzzcocks. He's also still a keen artist and has shown his work in a number of exhibitions.

Quote: "When I'm 70 I might be a man in a park just wandering around, speaking in tongues with kids throwing bread at me."

Trivia: His brother, Michael, played Naboo in The Mighty Boosh; both his parents also appeared briefly in the show, and all three have featured in Luxury Comedy.

Sandi Toksvig (Presenter)

Born: May 03, 1959 in Copenhagen, Denmark

Best Known For: Whose Line is it Anyway? and The News Quiz.

Early-life: Sandra Birgitte Toksvig was born in Copenhagen on May 3, 1958. Due to her father's job as a foreign correspondent for a Danish TV station, she grew up in Europe, Africa and the US. She studied anthropology, archaeology and law at Cambridge, and hoped to become a human rights lawyer. She won several prizes for academic achievements, and also appeared with the famous Footlights entertainment group. Sandi took a year off her studies to work as a lighting technician at a London theatre - and never looked back.

Career: Toksvig went on to work at Nottingham Playhouse and for the New Shakespeare Company before landing a job as a writer and performer on children's show No 73 in 1982. She then moved onto the comedy circuit and began to gain a wider following thanks to regular appearances on Radio 4's I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue, hosting the station's News Quiz, and Channel 4's Whose Line is it Anyway? She became a Call My Bluff team captain in 1997, and began presenting a revival of Fifteen-to-One in 2014. In 2015, she left her job as the presenter of The News Quiz to help set up the Women's Equality Party.

Quote: On the intellectuals she met while a Cambridge student: "They could split the atom, but not wire a plug."

Trivia: Toksvig was awarded an OBE in 2014. She has written several novels.

Carol Vorderman (Contestant)

Born: December 24, 1960 in Bedford

Best Known For: Doing the sums on Countdown.

Early-life: Carol Jean Vorderman was born in Bedford on December 24, 1960, to a Welsh mother and a Dutch father who split up when she was a baby; her mother then took her children (Carol has a brother) back to her hometown of Prestatyn, where they grew up. Carol knew little about her father's early life until she appeared on Who Do You Think You Are? where she learned he had been in the Dutch Resistance during the Second World War - he died while the programme was being made. She studied engineering at Cambridge. It was her mum who put her name forward for Countdown after spotting an advert looking for women with a flair for maths.

Career: Vorderman got the Countdown job, the first show broadcast on Channel 4 in 1982. She was initially one of four female presenters, but the other women were gradually phased out, leaving her as Richard Whiteley's co-host. Vorderman was soon in demand as a presenter on other TV shows, appearing on the likes of Tomorrow's World, How 2, Stars and Their Lives and Better Homes, but throughout continued to appear on Countdown. She announced she was leaving the show in 2008, after bosses reportedly asked her to take a 90 per cent pay cut. She has also been involved in a task force to improve numeracy skills in schools, and until July 2014 co-host of ITV's Loose Women.

Quote: "All my life, I have been used to dusting myself down and just getting on with it."

Trivia: Vorderman has hosted the Pride of Britain Awards on ITV since 1999.

Kelly Brook (Contestant)

Born: November 23, 1979 in Rochester, Kent

Best Known For: Her modelling career.

Early-life: Born Kelly Ann Parsons in Rochester, Kent, in 1979, the daughter of a cook and a scaffolder. She discovered her love of performing at a young age, and at the age of 12 won a place at the prestigious Italia Conti stage school. At 16, she began to look for work as an actress, but after winning a beauty contest her mum had entered her into, she initially found more success as a model. She went on to appear in numerous newspapers, magazines and advertising campaigns, which eventually led to TV presenting jobs.

Career: In 1999, she landed a high-profile job co-presenting The Big Breakfast, but left the show after a few months amid rumours she had struggled with the autocue. Undaunted by the criticism, she turned her attention to her acting career, winning roles in the movies Ripper, Absolon, School for Seduction and Three, as well as TV series such as Smallville and Marple. She continues to mix modelling, presenting and acting work, and competed in the 2007 series of Strictly Come Dancing, until she was forced to withdraw following her father's death. She played the lead role in successful horror comedy film remake Piranha 3D in 2010.

Quote: "You have to be really clever to play dumb."

Trivia: She has also appeared on the stage in Fat Pig and Calendar Girls.

Rob Rinder (Contestant)

Mo Gilligan (Contestant)

Kieran Smith (Executive producer)

Richard McKerrow (Executive producer)

Letty Kavanagh (Executive producer)

Jenna Mansfield (Series producer)

Luke Byrne (Series director)

Jeannette Goulbourn (Series director)

9:00 pm - 10:00 pm, Friday, December 19 on E4 +1 (30)

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Season 3, Episode 5

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