Mary Berry Facts: 23 Things You Might Not Know

Are there Mary Berry facts that you do not know?

Mary Berry is a British food writer, celebrity chef, and television personality. She is probably best known for being one of the original judges and presenters of ‘The Great British Bake Off’. However, she is also known for various other food television series and for her prolific career writing cookery books.

Known as ‘Mary, Queen of Cakes’, Mary Berry has risen in fame in recent years. However, there are still many things that people do not know about her. Here are 23 Mary Berry facts that you might not know.

23 Mary Berry Facts You Might Not Know

Mary Berry Facts: Her Personal and Family Life

1. She is from Somerset

Mary Rosa Alleyne Berry was born in Bath, Somerset, on 24th March 1935, says Wikipedia. Although her legal surname since her marriage is Hunnings, she has continued to use her maiden name professionally.

2. Mary Berry Contracted Polio When She Was 13

While most teens are gaining independence and trying new things, Maty Berry started her teen years ill and in hospital. She contracted polio when she was just 13 and spent three months in the hospital recovering. The illness had long-lasting effects on her health, as it left her with a twisted spine, a thinner left arm, and a weak left hand.

3. She Struggled at School

As she is so successful professionally, you may suspect that Mary Berry excelled academically at school. That is not the case as she struggled with all her academic subjects when she attended Bath High School. The only subject in which she excelled was domestic science.

4. She is a Classically Trained Chef

After leaving high school, Mary Berry studied catering and institutional management at the Bath College of Domestic Science. She then landed a job with the Bath Electricity Board and moved to the Dutch Dairy Bureau. For the latter, Berry was a recipe tester. At the same time, she studied at college in the evenings for a City & Guilds. Determined to further her career, Mary Berry persuaded her manager from the Dutch Dairy Bureau to pay for her to become professionally qualified at the le Cordon Bleu school in France.

5. She is Married and Has Three Children

In 1966, Mary Berry married Paul John March Hunnings, and she was 31 at the time of her marriage. The couple had two sons and one daughter together.

6. Her Son Died in a Tragic Accident

Mary Berry’s middle child, William, died tragically in a car accident when he was just 19. When she talks about this difficult period of her life, Berry says that her son’s death brought her closer to her husband. Due to her loss, Mary Berry is a patron of Child Bereavement UK.

Facts About Mary Berry: Her Career in Television

7. She Got Her Break in Television in 1973

Mary Berry is probably now best-known for her appearances on the television, although her television career did not begin until 1973. She got her big break in television in 1973 when she appeared on ‘The Good Afternoon Show with Judith Chalmers’, says Marie Claire. Appearing in front of the camera did not come naturally to her, and she was nervous and disliked her voice.

8. Berry is Best-Known for The Great British Bake Off

The television series for which Mary Berry is probably best known is ‘The Great British Bake Off’. Alongside Paul Hollywood, Berry was a presenter and judge on this television cooking competition series from 2010 to 2016. Berry left when the series moved from BBC One to Channel 4, although Hollywood decided to continue presenting the series. It is from her work on ‘The Great British Bake Off’ that Mary Berry became famous for saying, “it’s got a soggy bottom” and “ we don’t want any soggy bottoms”.

9. She is Also a Contributor to Other Television Series

Mary Berry’s first solo show was ‘Mary Berry Cooks’, which began airing in March 2014. In addition to her own cooking shows, Mary Berry has also contributed to the cooking slots on various other television series. These include Woman’s Hour and Saturday Kitchen.

10. She Was a Judge on Britain’s Best Home Cook

Another television series that featured Mary Berry was ‘Britain’s Best Home Chef’, which followed a similar format to MasterChef with contestants competing against each other in various cooking challenges. Berry was both a presenter and judge on the competition, alongside Chris Bavin and Dan Doherty. Claudia Winkelman was also a presenter of the series.

Mary Berry Facts: Her Career Outside Television

11. She Got Her Writing Break at Housewife Magazine

Although she had already begun writing her own cookbook, Mary Berry first became a professional food writer when she became the food editor for Housewife magazine in 1966. She was then the food editor for Ideal Home magazine between 1970 and 1973.

12. Her Books Have Sold More Than Six Million Copies

Throughout her career, Mary Berry has written more than 80 cookery books. Her first book was published in 1970. She has not sold more than six million copies of her cookery books worldwide.

13. She Has a Range of Sauces and Salad Dressings

Not only is Mary Berry a successful celebrity chef, television personality, and food writer, but she is also a businesswoman. In 1994, she launched a range of salad dressings and sauces with her daughter, Annabel. There are now ten products in the range, which includes condiments and chutneys, and they are available to buy in the UK.

14. She Also Has Two Smartphone Apps

Berry is happy to move into the 21st-century, and she has launched two smartphone apps. The first is called ‘Mary Berry Bakes’, and it consists of 70 recipes extracted from her bestselling book ‘Baking Bible’. Her second smartphone app is called ‘In Mary We Trust’. It has 50 recipes and guides for shopping, planning meals, and timing recipes.

Other Interesting Facts

15. She Has Some Impressive Accolades

Due to the success of her career, Mary Berry has achieved some impressive accolades. These include a CBE for services to culinary arts, an Outstanding Achievement prize at the Specsavers National Book Awards in 2014, and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Guild of Food Writers. Mary Berry was also awarded an honorary degree from Bath Spa University, and she has been given the Freedom of the City of Bath.

16. Mary Berry Does Not Take Sugar in Her Tea

According to Good Housekeeping, Mary Berry does not take sugar in her tea and has not done so since World War II. At that time, sugar was rationed, and Berry’s mother told her that if she stopped having sugar in her tea, she would have enough left over to make a cake occasionally.

17. She Will Not Cook Food in the Microwave

Like many of the top chefs, Mary Berry refuses to cook food in a microwave. She neither uses it for cooking her meals nor for warming them up if they have gone cold. However, she does have a microwave in her home. She claims that she only uses it to warm up her coffee if it has cooled.

18. She Went Clubbing in Ibiza at the Age of 71

One of the lesser-known Mary Berry facts is that the food writer once went clubbing in Ibiza at the age of 71. She was visiting the Spanish island to attend a friend’s wedding, and she went with some of her friends to ‘Pacha’, a famous dance club

19. Mary Berry’s Net Worth is £15 Million

According to The Express, Mary Berry’s net worth is estimated at £15 million. She has become rich through her food writing, her work as a celebrity chef and television personality, and her other business ventures. Although she has a healthy bank balance, Mary Berry is not one of the richest celebrity chefs in the world.

Mary Berry’s Likes and Dislikes

20. She Does Not Like Gordon Ramsay’s Television Series

Mary Berry does not like all her celebrity chef competitors, and she has said that she hates Gordon Ramsay’s television programs and that she will not watch them. In the past, she also said that she found Jamie Oliver irritating and bumptious. She has since changed her mind about the celebrity chef and now says that Jamie Oliver has made cooking fun

21. She Has Simple Food Tastes

Due to her career in the food industry, you might think that Mary Berry will have expensive tastes or that she would be fussy about food. However, her tastes are very simple. She loves to dine out at places such as Pizza Express, and she starts each day with toast and marmite. Berry says that she would choose pasta with asparagus for her last meal.

22. She Plays Tennis

For her work, Mary Berry spends a lot of time sampling food. Therefore, she is conscious of keeping her weight down and keeping fit. The way that she chooses to stay trim is by playing tennis in her leisure time.

23. She is a Passionate Gardener

Other than cooking, one of Mary Berry’s passions is gardening. She has opened her own garden to the public for more than 20 years, and she became the President of the National Garden Scheme in 2016.

You might also like to read our facts about Bobby Flay, Ree Drummond, Fred Sirieix, Curtis Stone, Shannon Bennett, Guy Fieri, Andy Allen, and Marco Pierre White.

We hope you have enjoyed reading our 23 Mary Berry facts that you probably did not know. Feel free to comment in a respectful manner below.