Channel 4’s Chief Creative Officer Jay Hunt To Leave The Broadcaster

Channel 4’s Chief Creative Officer Jay Hunt is to leave the broadcaster, it has been revealed.

Jay’s role involved overseeing the channel’s various acquisitions and commissions, including the controversial purchase of ‘The Great British Bake Off’.

Jay has been at the channel for six years and will step down in September (via The Hollywood Reporter).

Speaking of her decision to leave, she told BroadcastNow (£): “Channel 4 is a unique and special place. I’ve really enjoyed leading this phase of its creative renewal and I’ll be cheering the new leadership team on from afar.

“I will continue in [the] post till the end of September and am looking forward to Channel 4 delivering not just an exciting summer of sport but the richest autumn schedule we’ve ever had with big shows from ‘The Great British Bake Off’ to ‘Electric Dreams’. It’ll be business as usual till October.”

While Jay’s decision has nothing to do with ‘Bake Off’, that will indubitably be the one thing many TV fans remember from her time in the hotseat.

Jay previously stepped into the limelight to reassure fans that the show won’t be undergoing any drastic changes.

“‘Great British Bake Off’ will have a safe home,” she wrote in the Telegraph last September. “The show of soggy bottoms and good crumb will be made by exactly the same team who have always made it.

“We love it just as it is. And for an amateur baker like me, that’s a real cause for celebration.”

She also delighted fans last month by securing the UK rights to the TV adaptation of ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’.

Speaking at the time, she said: “‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ is a chilling and frighteningly topical exploration of a world where women are subjugated.

“I’m delighted that Channel 4 viewers will get to see this critically-acclaimed take on a classic novel.”