EXCLUSIVE: The Great British Bake Off’s cosy brand of kind-hearted competition has made it one of the most enduring success stories on UK television. But trouble is brewing in the tent.

In a highly unusual move, the former managing director of Love Productions is suing the company’s owner Sky, alleging that she was fired by the Comcast-backed broadcaster after raising concerns about its management of the Bake Off brand.

Letty Kavanagh has engaged London law firm Kingsley Napley to pursue twin legal cases against Sky and its subsidiary Love Productions. This includes a High Court lawsuit claiming breach of contract, as well as an employment tribunal for wrongful dismissal and gender discrimination.

Kieran Smith, Love Productions’ former creative director, is understood to share some of Kavanagh’s concerns and is also in dispute with Sky/Love through the UK’s Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service, which can resolve differences before legal proceedings.

Sky denies wrongdoing and said it will robustly defend Kavanagh’s legal claims.

Details of the cases are not yet in the public domain, but Deadline can reveal that Kavanagh raised concerns about Sky’s attempts to poach The Great British Bake Off from Channel 4 in 2024, when the hit cooking series was up for renewal. Sky’s interest in Bake Off was not previously known, and the series ultimately remained on Channel 4.

During internal discussions at the time, Kavanagh alleged that Sky’s pursuit of Bake Off was a conflict of interest because the broadcaster was privy to contractual arrangements with Channel 4, including the funding agreement and talent deals.

Sky hotly disputed the conflict of interest allegation, arguing that there was no legal basis for the claim because it wholly owned Bake Off. A Sky source also pointed to similar deals, such as ITV poaching The Voice from the BBC soon after ITV Studios acquired Talpa in 2015.

Kavanagh further alleged that Sky planned to scale back the Bake Off empire by cancelling spin-off series, which include a celebrity version and Junior Bake Off. Kavanagh argued that this would have damaged the show’s brand and put hundreds of jobs for staff and freelancers at risk.

The former Love producer claimed that she sought meetings with and assurances from Sky’s senior management but was routinely dismissed. Kavanagh alleged that Sky retaliated by terminating her contract and marching her out of the building.

Kavanagh also claims to have suffered discrimination on account of her gender, alleging that male colleagues — including creative director Smith — were treated more favourably when they left Love Productions. Kavanagh alleges that Sky is refusing to pay money she is owed, despite male colleagues receiving payouts.

A Sky spokesperson said: “We do not recognise Ms Kavanagh’s account of events. We reject the possibility of a conflict of interest in relation to assets we control and wholly own and refute her allegations of discrimination and retaliation in the strongest possible terms. We do not intend to comment further at this stage. Regrettably, this matter is the subject of ongoing legal proceedings, in which we intend to vigorously defend our position.”

Kavanagh worked at Love Productions for 18 years and was part of a management team that succeeded Richard McKerrow as the company’s figureheads in February 2025. Nine months later, Sky installed Ralph Lee, the former BBC Studios executive, as Love’s boss and announced that Kavanagh was departing. She exited at the same time as Love’s creative director Smith and executive editor Simon Evans.

“Letty was unfairly dismissed by Sky for raising genuine concerns about its mismanagement of Love Productions – the creator of Bake Off,” said a source familiar with the case. “She was looking out for staff and freelancers at the production company, who risk losing their jobs because of bad management decisions, and was trying to protect the public service broadcasting content which Love Productions is so famed for producing. In retaliation, she was fired.”

The source added that Kavanagh’s allegations raise questions about Sky’s planned takeover of ITV, including whether Comcast’s U.S. culture “fits with the expectations of UK broadcasting.” As part of Sky’s £1.6 billion ($2.1 billion) deal for ITV’s network operations, it was announced that ITV Studios would acquire Love Productions for £200M, meaning the Bake Off producer will have a new owner.

Bake Off, which streams on Netflix in the U.S. as The Great British Baking Show, will return for Season 17 next month. Nigella Lawson is replacing Prue Leith as a judge on the baking competition series. The show was originally created for the BBC in 2010.

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