A TV boss once responsible for The Great British Bake Off is suing Sky and her former employer, claiming that she was fired after voicing concerns over the treatment of the Bake Off brand.

Letty Kavanagh – formerly the managing director of Bake Off production company Love Productions – began legal proceedings in the High Court on Thursday (6 August) against both companies over her dismissal in November 2025.

She is also seeking an employment tribunal for wrongful dismissal and gender discrimination.

As reported by The Times, Kavanagh, who had been working at Love Productions for 18 years, claims that she was unfairly dismissed by Sky after raising alarms over its attempt to influence the business.

Specifically, Kavanagh says she expressed concern over potential plans at Sky, which purchased Love Productions in 2014, to air Bake Off on its own network.

Initially airing on the BBC, the cake-making competition series moved to Channel 4 in 2017; the broadcast deal was up for renewal in 2024, although Kavanagh claims that Sky, Netflix and Disney were all eyeing up a purchase of the format.

She alleges that she internally shared worries over the show moving to Sky, and that this could be a conflict of interest and impact the Love Productions brand, as well as reported plans by Sky to strip back the Bake Off franchise, cancelling the celebrity and junior versions, cutting hundreds of jobs in the process.

Kavanagh says that attempts to raise concerns with Sky’s senior management were dismissed, and that Sky retaliated by terminating her contract and “marching her out of the building” (as per Deadline).

Speaking to the publication, an insider familiar with the case said that “Letty was unfairly dismissed by Sky for raising genuine concerns about its mismanagement of Love Productions – the creator of Bake Off”.

They continued: “She was looking out for staff and freelancers at the production company, who risk losing their jobs because of bad management decisions, and was trying to protect the public service broadcasting content which Love Productions is so famed for producing. In retaliation, she was fired.”

In her discrimination claims, Kavanagh alleges that male colleagues received better treatment on their departures from Love Productions. She claims that Sky have not paid her the money she is owed, “despite male colleagues receiving payouts”.

Rejecting any claims the company acted inappropriately, a Sky spokesperson said it would robustly defend Kavanagh’s legal claims.

In a statement, they said: “We do not recognise Ms Kavanagh’s account of events. We reject the possibility of a conflict of interest in relation to assets we control and wholly own and refute her allegations of discrimination and retaliation in the strongest possible terms.

“Regrettably, this matter is the subject of ongoing legal proceedings, in which we intend to vigorously defend our position.”