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Mary Berry - irritating?

(252 Posts)
kittylester Sun 18-Mar-18 20:05:51

Does anyone else find her patronising and irritatingly self congratulatory? Or is it just me?

jura2 Tue 20-Mar-18 09:34:05

who is talking about sinning ?!?

There was nothing nasty about Kitty's comment- just a simple opinion on a TV presenter - and many of us agreed. Simple.

Mapleleaf Tue 20-Mar-18 08:44:40

Oh, this is getting downright ridiculous now. Leave the woman alone. Those without sin, cast the first stone, and all that!

barbaranrod Tue 20-Mar-18 08:17:51

i am finding her downright irritating as well ,i thought it was just me ,but she talks as though no one has been in a kitchen but her ,i enjoyed the very first bake off as she was good then ,but fame has gone to her head and ,now ,her and paul Hollywood ,irritate me to bits so i no longer bother with this program at all

patriciageegee Tue 20-Mar-18 08:13:33

'Lord of the Flies behaviour'? Not vitriolic (by whatever dictionary definition)?

NanKate Tue 20-Mar-18 06:34:56

I like Penelope Keith too. She is mature, slim, fun, speaks clearly and has bags of energy just like MB.

The floodgates are now open for your opinions, that is what GN is all about.

kittylester Tue 20-Mar-18 06:20:48

I loved Home and Freezer Digest and still use some recipes too.

Emm14 Tue 20-Mar-18 05:04:38

I don’t rate MB at all. I’m never interested in her recipes. She is nothing special at all - and very smug

GabriellaG Tue 20-Mar-18 00:52:02

Nigel Slater looks unkempt with greasy hair and has an irritating way of talking in a semi-staccato manner.

paddyann Tue 20-Mar-18 00:51:24

the only standards I want to measure up to are my own thank you very much.Mrs/Ms Berry has made her life through the public so she has given us the right to criticise her...I dont criticise appearance just attitude ..and I dont like hers .End of.The same with anyone else who is happy to be paid by the public ..if they want total privacy and no criticism then sty out of the limelight and earn your living another way

GabriellaG Tue 20-Mar-18 00:46:58

I like Mary Berry. She's very family oriented and the nails and hair and general styling are all done by professionals for whatever show she happens to be in, just as stylists do for anyone who appears on tv.
To suggest that she's self congratulatory is silly. Why shouldn't she be pleased that a recipe turns out well, after all, I'm sure that she'd rather it worked first time than have to film the segment again.
She's worked damned hard in her career and, at 81 and still working, I think she has every right to feel proud.
When you think of the tens of thousands of scroungers and the benefit brigade who have child after child and never work...I know who I'd rather have as a role model.

kwest Tue 20-Mar-18 00:11:17

Wow, ladies! MB is over eighty and working in a very unforgiving industry. How many of us could measure up to her standards, or even find the energy to do all that she does? I'm sure we all have days when we are a bit 'snippy' even though we might not direct our snippiness at people who are not in a position to respond. When alone and driving, even though they cannot hear me, my language towards other drivers can be disgraceful when they make minor transgressions( and this from me a far from perfect driver). I find it curiously satisfying.
I have watched MB since my children were small and so were hers. She has shown that older women don't have to be invisible and how many of us have perfect hair , nails etc.? Cut her some slack. You generally sound such a lovely, caring and compassionate group of people, I feel that this thread started as a 'tongue in cheek' comment that suddenly got out of hand.

trooper7133 Mon 19-Mar-18 22:28:54

Don’t mind Mary Berry but don’t get me started on Lorraine Kelly ?

NanaNancy Mon 19-Mar-18 22:15:54

First open a big bottle of wine, then possibly she could be tolerated. She should be called, Miss. Misery Butter cannot melt in my mouth.
So, I am not watching her - the things is one can always change to something else.

jacq10 Mon 19-Mar-18 21:37:08

Have been "following" Mary Berry since the 70's. She used to publish baking recipes in a little magazine called Home & Freezer Digest. I still have them - well stained and splattered! You couldn't go wrong with her traybakes. I still bake them. In the 80's she brought out a "Complete Cookbook" which covered all kinds of cooking. Many of those recipes have stood the test of time and I recognise many of them when watching her on TV. However, I do think she is involved with too many programmes and appearances. She is obviously not short a bob or two so should she not be limiting what she does and enjoy her life at a slower pace and like most folks on here I too am getting a bit bored with her.

Shizam Mon 19-Mar-18 21:11:29

Her recipes are fairly basic. Good for a beginner, but I am a fan of older woman getting tv time. Doesn’t happen a lot.

Blue45Sapphire Mon 19-Mar-18 20:57:19

Just watching Mary Berry now, and thinking how painfully thin she is - that jumper is just hanging off her.

mrswoo Mon 19-Mar-18 20:14:28

I have no strong feelings about MB and tend not to have watched any of her recent programmes. I always quite liked her on Bake off though. I can understand how she could possibly irritate people.
I do think that if someone is in the public domain we,the viewers, are quite entitled in having an opinion of them: good or bad.
To be honest - I prefer the Hairy Bikers and I bet they divide opinion.

maddy629 Mon 19-Mar-18 20:08:14

I've always liked Mary Berry, my only argument with her would be the amount of cream and butter she adds to her recipes, very unhealthy I think. Otherwise she is a very classy lady. Like merlotgran I enjoyed her series where she visited different stately homes.

farview Mon 19-Mar-18 19:42:22

I think that probably EVERYBODY has opinions about various celebrities..*kitty* just voiced hers! that's all,no nastiness,just her opinion....

Millie8 Mon 19-Mar-18 19:27:26

Yes, she is too sugary sweet for me.

Atqui Mon 19-Mar-18 19:20:03

I've only watched her cookery demos , not bake off, and I can't say I ever noticed her being patronising or condescending. I did however find her flirting with the young Swedish chef ,with doubl'entendre , somewhat inappropriate. Just wish Imhad a kitchen like hers, and managed to have the willpower to stay as slim as she is with all,that delish food to sample.

Eloethan Mon 19-Mar-18 19:16:17

I wouldn't really describe what people have written as vitriolic ("violent hate and anger expressed through severe criticism" - Cambridge Dictionary).

Personally, I don't like comments relating to people's appearance - men or women (but I agree that women seem to be subjected to more comments about their looks), or character assassinations. But I think it's OK to express a personal view about somebody's style of presentation or disagree with a statement they've made.

On Gransnet there have been some quite strong criticisms of male presenters/entertainers also:

Piers Morgan, Russell Brand, Jeremy Clarkson, John Humphrys, Jeremy Paxman, Chris Evans, Jonathan Ross, Bradley Walsh, etc. etc.

harrysgran Mon 19-Mar-18 19:14:31

With you all the way so smug and patronising yet I mentioned I wasn't keen on her and the group of people who were all under 30 all came to her defence saying how she is like a sweet granny

OldMeg Mon 19-Mar-18 19:01:37

Bridgeit if you are trying to explain why some people take their opportunity to, anonymously show us their ‘social animal’ side,then I completely agree with you.

It doesn’t mean that I have to join in with this sort of ‘lord of the Flies’ behaviour, and fortunately there are sufficient posters on here who feel the same to back me up.

M0nica Mon 19-Mar-18 18:51:34

Why watch her if you do not like her? I don't like cookery programmes full stop - so I do not watch them. I have never seen Mary Berry for that reason, nor read articles about her.

Most people who make it in any career, didn't get there by being a little pussy cat all the way through At sometime, male and female, they will have stretched out their claws and scratched.