Sandi Toksvig has revealed why she decided to step down as a presenter on the Great British Bake Off back in 2020, as she said she felt her brain was “atrophying”.

Between 2017 and 2020 she was co-presenter of the Channel 4 baking show alongside Noel Fielding.

After she left she was replaced by comedian Matt Lucas, with Alison Hammond later taking over his role last year.

Speaking to the Radio Times, Toksvig discussed her reasoning for moving on to other projects, stating that she "stopped having fun".

Toksvig felt her brain was 'atrophying' whilst presenting Bake Off

The 65-year-old shared: “To be honest, I left Bake Off because I stopped having fun.

“I was literally standing there watching meringues dry and thinking ‘Oh my God, my brain is atrophying’.

“So, after three years, I thought ‘That’ll do; go and do something else!’

“I’m in love enough with the business to think ‘OK, that’s a nice pay cheque, but it doesn’t work for me. I’ll move on and do something else’.”

'Atrophying' is a term that means to have something waste away, and is usually used in relation to body tissue or an organ.

Toksvig has hosted a number of other TV shows, including QI having taken over from Stephen Fry back in 2016.

She said she has stayed with the show because she is “still enjoying it”.

“I hope QI will be one of my legacy projects,” she added.

“By the time we’ve finished the alphabet I will have done exactly the same number as Stephen. We’ll have done half the alphabet each.”

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Toksvig would like to see more female hosts on TV quiz shows

Commenting on the diversity of hosts for TV quiz shows Toksvig shared: “Knowledge doesn’t belong to one demographic, it belongs to all of us. I would still like to see more women in charge of shows.

“Being the quizmaster, between you and me, is the easiest job in the world because they tell you the answers beforehand.

“And those cards on which the answers are printed are not as heavy as some of those boys led us to believe – it’s really fine for a woman to do it."