Stacey Solomon says she 'almost cried' from the pressure of filming 'Bake Off: The Professionals'

Stacey Solomon has admitted she found her new role on Bake Off: The Professionals so stressful that she nearly cried during filming.

The Loose Women panellist who first found fame as an X Factor contestant is the newest member of the Bake Off family as she joins Liam Charles to co-host the pro version of the popular Channel 4 show.

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But Solomon, 32, said that the pressure of the frantic competition got to her so much during filming that it almost left her in tears.

She told The Sun: "My first weekend of filming was so dramatic. I thought, 'Is this normal?' It was intense and crazy.

"It was just really frantic and a lot happened. Honestly my heart sank so many times on that first episode I thought I was going to cry."

Luckily, Solomon said that she found the whole team welcoming and supportive - especially her co-host Charles, 24, who is a former contestant from the main Great British Bake Off show.

She said: "All I’m going to say is, thank god for Liam. He was like my encyclopaedia. Every time we had five minutes I would say, 'And what does this actually mean Liam?’"

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Bake Off: The Professionals sees teams of patisserie experts working in kitchens across the UK compete to be named the series' top pastry chefs.

It launches series five on Tuesday, where the teams must produce strawberry fraisier cakes, chocolate sculptures, and then reinvent the treacle tart.

When Solomon announced on social media earlier this year that she would be taking over Tom Allen's old role, she wrote: "I just saw that Bake Off posted, so I can finally say that the reason I've been going off and filming every few weeks is because I'm going to be presenting Bake Off the Professionals this year.

"I was so excited when they asked me, I've filmed a couple of episodes and it's just been so much fun. Everyone is so lovely and I basically count them in and say 'ready steady go' and then I just eat cake all day.

"It's such a cool job, I love it so much. I'm just so excited about it, I can't wait to film the rest of it and I can't wait for you to see it."

Bake Off: The Professionals begins on Tuesday at 8pm on Channel 4.

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