Emma Freud

Emma Freud, 51, is the great-granddaughter of Sigmund Freud and a well-known cultural commentator with a wide range of broadcasting experience.

She has worked as a TV presenter for the BBC, ITV and Channel 4 and as a radio broadcaster on BBC Radio 1 and Radio 4. Her boyfriend, Richard Curtis, founded Comic Relief in 1985 which she has also helped run for 23 years and is a Director of Red Nose Day. She also ran the Make Poverty History campaign.

She initially worked on cable television programmes for children before co-presenting LWTs The Six O’ Clock Show (1986)

She was the script editor for classic Brit Rom-Coms Four Weddings and a Funeral, Bridget Jones’ Diary, Notting Hill and Love Actually.

She was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2011 Birthday Honours for services to Comic Relief.

• Emma’s father, Clement Freud, was one of Britain’s first ‘celebrity chefs’ and was the 2nd TV chef after Fanny Craddick. He trained at the Dorchester in London and by default Emma thought for many years she was a great cook because of her genes.

• When Emma cooked a meal for boyfriend Richard Curtis early in their relationship, he was honest and told her the food was terrible so she had cookery lessons with Skye Gyngell (who now has Michelin star restaurant).

• She isn’t a ‘baker’ but thinks her competitive nature will see her through.

• Emma is a huge fan of Bake Off, describing it as “the greatest TV show ever made”.

• Emma is an incredibly messy cook. Whilst practising her tray-bakes (in a 6 hour marathon) she didn’t have one clean saucepan left in her kitchen. She hopes she doesn’t have to do the washing up in the tent!