THEGAYUK

Tag: Gender

All the latest breaking news on gender. Browse The THEGAYUK’s complete collection of features and commentary on gender and the LGBT+ community.

  • What does cisnormative mean?

    What does cisnormative mean?

    There are many terms that come up when discussing gender and you may hear words that begin with “cis”.

    geralt / Pixabay

    Cisnormative is one such word and its meaning is simply the typical or expected behaviour from a particular gender role: at its simplest the binary of Man and Woman.

    So as an example, if you’re born male, grow up and are treated as a male, it might be considered cisnormative for him to play with toy soldiers, like football or have his bedroom colour blue.

    In the same way, it would be considered cisnormative for a girl to grow up liking and dressing in pink and playing with dolls.

    A person living a cisnormative life is a cisgender person who dresses and acts in a way which might be described as typical for their gender and biological sex.

    Many of these choices are actually impacts from parental decisions rather than a child’s actual wishes. This was proven in a recent BBC two documentary called Gender Free.

     

    You can add your comments below if you’d like us to update the meaning we’ve used here.

     

    YOUR SUPPORT MEANS EVERYTHING

    Help us deliver unique, usable and reliable journalism that supports the gay, bisexual and curious community of the United Kingdom. Can you help protect LGBT+ media? Publishers like us have come under severe threat by the likes of Google and Facebook. The problem is that advertisers are choosing to put their money with them, rather than with niche publishers like us. Our goal is to eliminate banner ads altogether on site and we can do that if you could pledge us a tiny amount each month.

    We’re asking our readers to pledge just £1 per month, more if you’re feeling swanky. You can stop payment at any time.

    It’s quick and easy to sign up and you’ll only have to do it once.

    Click to start the journey and support THEGAYUK!

  • What does Misogynoir mean?

    Misogynoir is a word that was coined by queer, androgyne black feminist Moya Bailey, which describes a type of discrimination that is experienced by black women.

    Bailey created the word to describe misogyny directed at black women, where their race and gender both play a role in bias.

    According to Wikipedia, the term was first used by Bailey in the Crunk Feminist Collective blog to raise awareness of the misogyny toward black women in hip hop music.

    The term “transmisogynoir” was coined by Trudy of Gradient Lair and created to refer to the intersection between transmisogyny and misogynoir, meaning the oppression of trans women of colour. Transmisogynoir is the intersection of transphobia, misogyny, and antiblackness.

     

    YOUR SUPPORT MEANS EVERYTHING

    Help us deliver unique, usable and reliable journalism that supports the gay, bisexual and curious community of the United Kingdom. Can you help protect LGBT+ media? Publishers like us have come under severe threat by the likes of Google and Facebook. The problem is that advertisers are choosing to put their money with them, rather than with niche publishers like us. Our goal is to eliminate banner ads altogether on site and we can do that if you could pledge us a tiny amount each month.

    We’re asking our readers to pledge just £1 per month, more if you’re feeling swanky. You can stop payment at any time.

    It’s quick and easy to sign up and you’ll only have to do it once.

    Click to start the journey and support THEGAYUK!

  • Piers Morgan wishes non-binary and Gender Fluid people a Merry Christmas

    In stark contrast to his usual rhetoric, the Good Morning Britain presenter wished members of gender non-conforming community a Merry Christmas.

    From ITV Studios | © ITV

    In the last Good Morning Britain of 2018, Piers Morgan wished a Merry Christmas to non-binary and genderfluid people. Piers who has been critical of the non-binary activists in recent years, was showing off pre-written cue cards in homage to the famous Andrew Lincoln Love Actually scene, where the actor holds up cards explaining his true feelings to co-star Keira Knightley.

    On one of the cards that Piers holds up on the ITV morning show, “Love to every gender fluid, non-binary individual out there, Merry Christmas” was written before the punchline, “P.s. BBC Breakfast Sucks”.

    BBC Breakfast is a competing show on BBC One.

    Seemingly a genuine gesture, Piers holds up a card acknowledging the Gender Fluid and Non-binary community.

    Before the butt of the joke is revealed – that he thinks that BBC Breakfast ”

    Snow MEN not Snow People

    Earlier this year the presenter went on a tirade against Children’s TV presenter, 20-year-old Catie Munning, who was speaking on her CBeebies show, Catie’s Amazing Machines when she said, “snow is amazing. You get to build snowpeople and go sledging.”

    Piers, who has consistently railed against gender non-conformity ranted, “You don’t build snowpeople, you see, you build snowmen, we’ve been building snowmen for 10,000 years”.

    In 2017 Piers was being criticised for the way he handled an interview with a couple who identify as non-binary. The couple, Fox and Owl were being interviewed on Good Morning Britain on ITV. You may remember Fox from Channel 4’s My Transsexual Summer.

    The interview was dubbed “inanely cruel”, disrespectful and “ill-formed”

  • 2021 Census will include questions about gender and sexuality

    The UK’s 2021 census will include questions to help determine the size of Britain’s LGBT+ community.

    ellisedelacruz / Pixabay

    The digital first 2021 Census will help shape public services to meet the needs of the LGBT+ community in the years to come, as plans set out in a government white paper today show.

    The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has recommended a new voluntary question on sexual orientation for those aged 16 and over. In addition to the usual question on being male or female for all ages, there will also be a voluntary question on gender identity in England and Wales for those aged over 16.

    It was always the intention of ONS that these questions would be voluntary.

    The data gathered from these questions will make it easier to monitor inequalities under the anti-discrimination duties of the Equality Act 2010 and to directly plan public services and support for these groups.

    “Stand Up and Be Counted”

    National Statistician, John Pullinger, said: “The Census is for everyone; it gives us all the opportunity to stand up and be counted in democratic debate and policy decisions.

    “We have designed it with people at its heart and we consulted widely to ensure it meets the needs of society. Unlike previous Censuses, it will be digital first which will make it easier to complete electronically, with help available for those who need it.”

    The date for the digital-first census has been confirmed as 21 March 2021, subject to parliamentary approval.

    Information gathered by ONS will ensure vital public services can be targeted into communities and groups where they are needed, in 2021 and beyond.  

    ONS is transforming the way it collects, processes and shares data and the next census is part of a wider drive towards making more use of data already held and moving surveys online.

    In line with previous censuses, ONS will hold a census rehearsal in October 2019 and is currently reviewing which local authority areas will be included.

    For more information, see the white paper which has been laid today in Parliament.

    How many LGBT people are there in the UK?

    (C) BIGSTOCK

    The number of people who identify as lesbian, gay and bisexual is a hotly debated subject, with no clear answer, but here will look at all the available stats.

    There has long been a widely-held belief that around 10 per cent of the population is gay, lesbian or bisexual or who identify as non-heterosexual. This is probably the most accurate of all the figures – as more and more people feel comfortable to come out about their sexuality.

    The ONS (Office of National Statistics) says that in a survey of people in the United Kingdom it found that 1.5 per cent of people identified as LGB. This result was arrived at by extrapolation of data collected. However, these statistics were disputed for not being accurate or showing the full picture.

    By their estimations, this would mean that there are only 990,300 LGB people in the UK.

  • This school in Brighton has over 70 trans and genderfluid kids

    There is a school in the south-east of England, where over 70 children aged between 11 and 16 feel comfortable enough to question their gender identity and identify more closely to how they feel.

    According to The Sunday Times, the Dorothy Stringer secondary school in Brighton has at least 40 transgender children who don’t identify with the gender they were assigned at birth and a further 36 students who say that they are genderfluid – people who define their gender as fluid, flexible or changeable.

    The number of transgender students who were open to their families was much lower, however. Students were much more comfortable to share their gender expression with their classmates and faculty.

    The headteacher, Richard Bradford told the newspaper, “The number of ”openly trans children” who had approached us with their families to say that they are transgender [was] much lower”.

    Transgender Flag

    The now iconic blue, pink and white flag that the transgender community uses for identity. 

    The disclosure from the Dorothy Stringer school came through the school’s  “equality information report”. It is believed that the school has the highest number of trans identifying children in the country.

    What does genderfluid mean?

    Genderfluid is an identity which describes someone who doesn’t have a fixed gender expression, like “man” or “woman”. They are likely to feel that their gender expression is flexible and changeable from day to day, or even several times a day, due to its fluidity. Genderfluidity has close links to the non-binary identity where a person doesn’t see their gender as either masculine or feminine.

    Why is Brighton so LGBT+ friendly?

    Brighton has long been the home of a large LGBT+ community outside of London and is often referred to as the ‘gay capital of the UK’.  The city holds the UK’s biggest pride event and has a large number of LGBT+ venues.

  • Just 21 percent of the top podcasts are female presented and 1 percent is LGBT+ content

    Just 21 percent of the top podcasts are female presented and 1 percent is LGBT+ content

    A shocking review of the top 100 programmes on Apple’s iTunes podcast chart reveals that just 21 per cent of podcasts are female-led and just one per cent is content for, or about, the LGBT+ community.

    are podcasts male dominated, how many podcasts are female presented,
    (C) APPLE / Individual programmes

    The iTunes chart is male dominated with the majority of programmes featured in the top 100 podcasts being presented by men or featuring male-dominated panels, when checked on the 24th November 2018.

    Women-only shows accounted for 16 per cent of the shows in iTunes’ podcast chart, while female-dominated, that is shows that also featured a man in the presenting role, accounted for just 5 per cent.

    There was just one LGBT+ podcast, which was a show focussing on the experiences of people who had been subjected to “gay-cure” therapy. Two other podcasts were presented by out members of the LGBT+ community including Stephen Fry and Anna Richardson.

    Around 18 per cent of podcasts were equally presented, meaning that there was a 50/50 or near equal split of male/female presenters on the shows.

    Comedy and Sports Male-Dominated

    Practically all comedy shows were presented or featured men only.

    The top 10 podcasts were, with just two exceptions, the Guardian‘s Today In Focus and the BBC‘s Desert Island Discs, all presented by cis-gender men or featured male-dominated panels.

    The top female presented show was the Guardian‘s daily Today In Focus, presented by Anushka Asthana, which is a show to “bring you closer to Guardian journalism”.

    The second female-fronted show was Lauren Lavern’s Desert Island Discs produced by the BBC.

    Here’s how the top 100 podcasts were presented.

    MALE    IIIII IIIII IIIII IIIII IIIII IIIII IIIII IIIII IIIII IIII

    FEMALE IIIII IIIII IIIII I

    MALE DOMINATED IIIII IIIII II

    EQUAL IIIII IIIII IIIII III

    FEMALE DOMINATED IIIII

    LGBT I

    Further down the chart, there was more LGBT+ content, including Savage Lovecast (163) RuPaul’s What’s The Tee (199) and Graham Norton Podcast (200)

    Featured by Apple

    When it comes to finding out new shows, Apple’s “New and Noteworthy” section offered potential listeners a 50/50 spread between men and women presented podcasts.

  • Six ways you can be a better non-binary ally

    Six ways you can be a better non-binary ally

    This morning I was on Twitter and I clicked on the #TransAwarenessWeek hashtag and I came across a very insightful tweet from a user, who gave some great tips.

    Not everything is binary… kerplode / Pixabay

    Let me tell you about my own gender expression before we go on. I don’t think of myself as a “man” because I don’t really fit into what society expects of its men. When I was a child all I wanted to do was be called a girl, wear high heels, my mum’s dresses and sing Petula Clark’s ‘Downtown’ on repeat. I was a Grade A queer/trans kid.

    Nowadays, I dress in masculine clothes, I have a boyfriend, I have short hair and people assume that I’m a man, and a gay one at that. I enjoy the privileges that, for the most part, that assumed identity affords me. But, it never really feels right when someone refers to me in that way.

    That said, I don’t mind if people use the pronouns him/his or he when they refer to me. Although it does jar me if someone calls me a man. Weird.

    I also don’t mind it if I’m referred to with female pronouns.

    I’m pretty relaxed about the pronouns that are used to describe me.

    But for some, words really matter. So here’s some advice to help us all become better allies to our non-binary, gender non-conforming siblings.

    Open your ears and mind

    via GIPHY

    It seems that we’ve all got our lives set to transmit only. We need more receiving in our lives. So when someone is telling you something about them, listen.

    Leave your assumptions at the door

    via GIPHY

    Someone once wisely told me, “Assumptions are the mother of all fuck-ups” – and they were completely right. How often have you assumed something about a situation only to find that nothing was as you imagined? Pretty often, right?

    Your assumptions are based on your own life experience. It doesn’t take into account other people’s experience. So leave your assumptions at the door and again, open your mind.

    Respect pronouns

    rawpixel / Pixabay

    If a person tells you what their preferred pronoun is, accept it don’t fight it. It’s what they’ve asked you to call them. The decision is effectively out of your hands. It’s the same as when someone tells you their name. You accept it and it becomes part of their identity. Well, pronouns are the same.

    Accept that there are lots of different pronouns

    via GIPHY

    Some non-binary, gender fluid and gender non-conforming folks use a number of different pronouns. Some popular ones are: Zim/Zer and Ze, they/them and theirs or even thon, which was actually added to the dictionary in 1964. They as a singular pronoun has been used for centuries.

    It’s not particularly new, it’s not trend based, it’s just getting a lot of media attention at the moment.

    Stop normalising gender norms

    via GIPHY

    Blue for boys, Pink for girls… gender stereotyping is all so 1950s and really doesn’t work for today’s society. No one likes living in a predefined box and we don’t live in a black and white world. There’s a whole rainbow out there.

    Gender norms and stereotypes, when adhered to, just keeps society attached to a patriarchal system that’s almost impossible to climb and doesn’t work for all of us, particularly LGBT+ people. So lets bin it shall we?

    Write your own pronouns

    via GIPHY

    Normalise the conversation surrounding pronouns. Write your preferred pronouns in your social media profiles. As @thalestral says on Twitter, “normalise that shit”.

  • Here’s what’s triggering Piers Morgan today

    Here’s what’s triggering Piers Morgan today

    Piers Morgan is raging at Snowmen being called Snowpeople.

    Someone, please adjust Piers Morgan‘s tie before he had a seizure. The Good Morning Britain presenter blasted a BBC presenter after she used the term “snowpeople” instead of “snowmen”.

    Morgan went on a tirade on Monday morning against Children’s TV presenter, 20-year-old Catie Munning, who was speaking on her CBeebies show, Catie’s Amazing Machines when she said, “snow is amazing. You get to build snowpeople and go sledging.”

    Piers Morgan, who has consistently railed against gender non-conformity ranted, “You don’t build snowpeople, you see, you build snowmen, we’ve been building snowmen for 10,000 years”.

    10,000 years? Could someone please fact check?

    No gender here. Snow figures don’t actually have any sex or gender characteristics… Free-Photos / Pixabay

    He went on,”We, part of mankind, humans, build snowmen, Catie, you seem a lovely lady, whoever you are. You’re 20 years old, you present CBeebies,”

    “They’re not snowpeople, they’re snowmen. Or as somebody put it here, one of the parents, ‘politically correct garbage.’”

    Calm down dear… Who knew snowflakes could get you so hot and bothered.

     

     

  • COMMENT | Fighting Transphobia and How to be a Trans Ally

    COMMENT | Fighting Transphobia and How to be a Trans Ally

    Writer Simon Sayers-Franklin urges you to think carefully about being an ally to trans people in our community and what you can do to help with the soon-closing Gender Recognition consultation.

    Transgender Flag

    Transgender women ARE women… Sadly this is something that is contested by an increasing number of so called feminists. These vicious groups of Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminists have made it their business to demonise and hurt trans people at all costs.

    They make the most bizarre claims, ranging from: “Trans women can never be women because they have experienced “male privilege”” to “Any man could pretend to be a trans woman in order to gain access to female spaces with a predatory intent.”

    The activist group, Fair Play for Women, just the other day took a whole page spread in the Metro, a free newspaper which is mostly distributed on public transport and therefore reaches a large audience. Their message not only displayed crude language but an absolute lack of understanding about transgender people and demonstrated a strange obsession with genitals. The ad questions whether “men” should be able to compete in sport with women. Whether “fully intact men” should be allowed to live in women-only prisons and the list goes on. The cost of this vile ad? £45,000. Now, that sort of money does not come from nowhere. These groups have some serious funding coming from somewhere and while we don’t know where it’s from, we can assume they have big sponsors somewhere. Don’t we deserve to know who it is so we can boycott or take appropriate action against them?

    While Ofcom have said they will look into complaints surrounding the ads, we will have to wait and see what their decision is. Judging by the recent outcome of the Ashers Bakery “Gay Cake” legal battle, which did a U-turn on the second appeal, it’s a worrying prospect.

    This ad comes just weeks after a billboard in Liverpool had to be removed within hours, following complaints. The group Standing for Women, had placed a plain, black billboard with white writing stating that “woman” means “adult human female.” Word got out and many quickly tweeted the company who had no idea about the motive behind the ads. The company were deeply shocked and upset. The billboard was quickly removed.

    Standing for Women, reacted with: “As you may have read, the billboard has been deemed transphobic and is being removed in an act of grotesque misogynistic rage. We are seeking legal advice and will make a full statement in due course.”

    We are still waiting for that full statement.

    Sadly, facing such hatred is the norm for transgender people in this day and age. The bullying is relentless and groups like Standing for Women, etc, keep pushing on and nobody seems to help. It’s a heart breaking statistic that almost half of young, transgender people have attempted suicide. This should not be happening and we need to do something.

    I recently met with Dr Adrian Harrop (@DrAdrianHarrop) who is an LGBTQ+ activist and is very passionate about taking a stand for transgender people’s rights and speaking up against these anti-trans groups. He has developed quite a name for himself for doing so, speaking on TV and radio as well as his twitter. The groups paint him out to be a monster but they couldn’t be further from the truth. He is warm, friendly and keen to make a positive change in the world.

    During my chat with Dr Harrop, we discussed the issues faced by transgender people in the modern world with smear campaigns in the media, the government not caring enough to do anything to help and abuse in the streets.

    The comparisons to paedophiles, perverts and sexual predators are no different to the abuse that the gay community faced in the past. It is scarily close to the attitudes of the 80s and early 90s at the height of the AIDS crisis, except now there’s no escape from the constant bullying. Online, anti-trans activists swarm like flies around any remote mention of a trans issue and let rip.

    For lots of us under thirty, we don’t remember a world with such dangerous hostility towards LGB people. We were too young to properly remember the AIDS crisis; we saw the back end of Section 28 in our school life, sex was legal for us sat 16. We have been very lucky to grow up in a world where battles have been fought and won by people who had a much harder time than us. Sadly, a majority of these heroes are no longer with us but we still owe it to them, to continue their fight. While the world is still not entirely accepting of LGB people it is so much easier than it was and now is the time to stand up for our transgender brothers and sisters.

    As cisgender gay men we are very privileged and we must use that to our advantage. Our transgender family have fought along side us for so long. We cannot forget that there is a T in LGBT and we must make a stand and fight alongside these people as they did for us.

    Now, the main question is “How do I become an effective transgender ally?” When we met, Dr Harrop explained how we can effectively help our transgender family. Here are some simple steps to being a trans ally:

    1. Respect and validate people without question. People know themselves better than you do. It’s a fact. Nobody should be made to feel like they need to explain themselves or that they need to validate their existence and their right to be who they are. This would never be expected of any other minority.

    2. Be prepared to call out transphobia. Most people would be confident to call out racism, lots would also be confident to call out homophobia… transphobia is no different. Call that out too whether it’s online or in person. Transphobia can sometimes be difficult to spot but it must be tackled. Examples include small things (which actually have a massive impact on the person receiving the abuse) like misgendering and calling someone by their dead name (their birth name) to more extreme cases where someone’s identity is being questioned with hurtful words and/or violence.

    3. Be supportive. Be kind. Be human.

    4. There is currently a consultation about the GRA (Gender Recognition Act) which involves a long, dehumanising and hurtful process for transgender people to “prove” their gender. If we make our voices heard, we can change this and make life much easier for our transgender family. Filling in the consultation is quick and easy and is a great way to start your journey to being a trans ally.

     

  • COMMENT | The Extra Extra Large argument over ‘masc’ only clubs

    COMMENT | The Extra Extra Large argument over ‘masc’ only clubs

    It was reported recently that a club goer to the members club XXL in London was refused entry because they were in (what is being described as) high heels and looked ‘feminine’. They were told they had to remove their heels and dress appropriately as this was a venue that celebrates everything masculine (it was a bear club after all).

    Free-Photos / Pixabay

    It then transpires that this is actually one of many incidents of this kind and to add insult to injury the owner of XXL even decided to go on an anti-fem (amongst other things) rant on twitter (I’m not going to link to it as it doesn’t deserve the airtime).

    These recent incidents have quite rightly sparked a fresh debate about toxic masculinity on the gay scene and how ‘fem’ guys are being pushed out in favour of a more ‘masc’ (masculine) culture. In a recent article by Otamere Guobadia, they talk about anti-femme door policies at various places including quoting examples where drag queens and trans women on nights out are excluded from venues for being too feminine (or not masculine depending on your point of view).

    In response to the incidents by XXL, there is a protest against the door policy at XXL on the 23 September and even organisations like All Together UK (an LGBT social group) are boycotting the venue to ensure their members and potential don’t feel excluded from events. With the debate raging is there a danger that nobody wins in all of this?

    On the ‘masc’ side you have years of the gay community trying to get away from the stereotypical portrayal of a gay man in the media. Deliberately engaging with, what they see, as normal everyday masculine blokey stuff. Discouraging ‘camp’ behaviour, veering away from more feminine activities and hobbies towards more physical activities, the celebration of the 6 pack and chisled body etc. Has this gone too far down the masculine path? Now that concepts of ‘gender’ are more fluid than they ever have been before, is such a masculine idealism toxic to the community?

    On the ‘fem’ side you have pretty much the opposite reaction to the above. After years of being told what is masculine and to be gay, you have to be x body shape or behave in Y fashion this is the inevitable result of that. If you repress anyone for long enough they will eventually burst out and push back on the repressive ideas that held them back. This is exactly what we are seeing now and personally, I celebrate it.

    “The moment we repress one over the other is the moment everyone loses”

    My worry is that this whole argument shouldn’t be a case of masculinity is bad or femininity is bad. Both are good and bad in their own measures and are both valid ways of being in their own rights. The moment we repress one over the other is the moment everyone loses. Calling for masculine bars to be banned is wrong, just as calling for feminine bars to be banned is wrong. Both can exist so long as ones from the other can enter hassle free. That boys and girls is a diverse and inclusive environment not one over the other.

    No one should be repressed for being who they are. Masculine, Feminine, Undecided, Fluid or whatever! If we truly want to call ourselves an ‘inclusive’ society then all options should be on the table. If a fem person wants to enter XXL then so be it, just as a butch person walks into a drag show then so be it. They know what XXL is and what its brand is about, just because someone in a corset walks around doesn’t mean the ‘buff’ ‘masculine’ brand and feel of the place has changed. Last time I checked masculinity was a lot more stable than that (but I could be wrong…?).

    Personally, I have no idea what I would fit in. I wouldn’t call myself masculine as I was never really a typical ‘bloke’ in that sense. However, I wouldn’t call me particularly effeminate either but I do have my moments. Not that it matters in the grand scheme of things but I wanted to give you where I stand in all of this so maybe you can see why I see both sides of the debate here.

    Now that I know a little more about what the XXL owner is about (personally) and while their door policy remains so bullish I’ll also be boycotting the venue – there are plenty of other decent nights out in London! I don’t often boycott as it affects staff more than it does the boss but in this instance, it may just do the trick.

    However, if I now have to queue to get into the Eagle I will not be happy.

  • QI host Sandi Toksvig reveals huge pay gap between her and Stephen Fry

    QI host Sandi Toksvig reveals huge pay gap between her and Stephen Fry

    The first female host of QI has revealed a massive pay gap between her fee and that of the previous host Stephen Fry.

    CREDIT: (C) BBC – Photographer: ABIGAIL ZOE MARTIN

    Sandi Toksvig has revealed that she is paid just 40 percent of the fee that Stephen Fry commanded for her QI hosting gig. Speaking at the Women’s Equality Party conference, Sandi revealed that she puts up with the pay gap because she is the first female of the long-running BBC show.

    However, Sandi is paid the same amount as another male presenter, Alan Davies.

    Sandi, who is 60 this year, took over presenting QI from Stephen Fry in 2015.

    (C) BIGSTOCK

    Speaking about the pay difference, she said, “I have recently discovered I get 40% of what Stephen used to get. And I get the same pay as (permanent panellist) Alan Davies, who is not the host.

    “I temper this with the fact that I love the show and I’m the first woman to host such a show.”

    Later, she added, “I love QI and the brilliant team who produce it. John Lloyd and the (production) team champion women on the show.”

    However, some fans of the show were quick to point out that the pay gap could be because of the stars’ respective profile. For instance on Twitter, Stephen Fry has over 12.8 million followers, while Sandi has just 157,000. However, Sandi is also now heading up the very high profile presenting job on Channel 4’s Great British Bake Off, which makes her one of TV’s most sought-after presenters.

    According to the BBC, producers Fremantle Media have made no comment on the difference.