Great British Bake Off betting suspended over leak fears

Ladbrokes halts bets on contestant amid concerns over the identity of the winner

This year’s Great British Bake Off contestants. Photograph: Mark Bourdillon/PA Wire
This year’s Great British Bake Off contestants. Photograph: Mark Bourdillon/PA Wire

Ladbrokes has suspended bets on a Great British Bake Off contestant amid fears the winner's name has been leaked.

The bookmaker had a flurry of bets for one contestant whose odds started at 12/1 and were reduced to 6/1, 3/1 and then evens.

It has suspended betting to assess the situation.

A spokesman said: “When you see a run of bets like this for one contestant at the expense of everyone else, that can be a sign to suspend betting for a bit to assess the situation, and that’s exactly what we did.”

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Ipswich

Many of the bets were placed in shops around Ipswich, although the contestant is not known to have links to the town.

Several of the bets were the maximum the bookies would take for the show, and 90 per cent were placed on one contestant.

Ladbrokes said that several customers came in and asked to place the highest bet possible on one contestant, which raised suspicion.

The suspension will not affect bets already placed.

PA