Hilary Devey

Anyone returning from the pub last night and casually glancing through their Twitter feed may well have been disturbed to discover that a large majority of the people that they follow on the social networking site had developed a sudden interest in dogging.

Yes. Dogging.

Yes. We know what dogging is. And so do the 1.9 million viewers that tuned in to watch the Dogging Tales documentary on Channel 4 between 10 and 11pm last night. That’s a 70 per cent rise on the channel’s usual ratings for that time slot, The Independent reports. With a peak audience of 2.1. million – double that of Hilary Devey’s The Intern, which aired before it – and a popular choice between the coveted 16-34 age group, the documentary was a runaway success for Channel 4 and the programme was also a hugely popular topic on Twitter, too.

Continue reading: Ratings Through The Woof: Channel 4 Lands Surprise Hit With Dogging Documentary

Having not had a particularly prolific career in the spotlight prior to The Great British Bake-Off, the show really propelled Paul Hollywood's career and his popularity has now surmounted in a battle between Channel 4 and the BBC for his contract. Hollywood eventually chose the BBC over Channel 4, unlike Mary Portas, Hilary Devey and Jimmy Doherty who have all been given shows on C4 or one of its subsidiaries.

Hollywood's new contract with the BBC is reported by Metro to be around the £300k mark. It's not only the financial promise that makes the BBC the right decision, but judging by Channel 4 converts it's likely that his career wouldn't fly; Doherty's show was relegated to More4 and Portas and Devey's show had terrible ratings. Hollywood's new contract with the BBC includes not only a fourth series of the record breaking bakery show, which is co-judged with Mary Berry, but also his own show, flamboyantly named 'Paul Hollywood's Bread'.

When discussing this new show, he expressed his eagerness but also revealed the perils and health risks of bread-making: “I've been all over the country looking into the history of bread. I ended up concentrating on bread [in my career] because it was one of the hardest things to master. You're harnessing an animal – yeast... When you're manipulating and kneading the dough, it's such a release of stress. I'm paying for it now because I've got big problems with my neck and carpal tunnel syndrome in both my wrists.'

Continue reading: Great British Bake Off's Paul Hollywood Rejects Channel 4's Advances