BBC1 swapping amateur bakers for painters with new TV show

BBC1 is swapping amateur bakers for painters with a new TV show - The Big Painting Challenge.

The broadcaster, which lost The Great British Bake Off to Channel 4, has unveiled the six part series, which will air later this year.

Despite having the same title as a previous painting series, the BBC said that the new programme - presented by the Rev Richard Coles and Mariella Frostrup - was a different show.

The six-part series will see 10 amateur artists embark on a series of painting challenges, helped by two mentors, in an attempt to be crowned champion.

Three judges from the arts world critique the paintings and decide which contestant to eliminate.

Contestants include "a single mother from Northern Ireland" and a "former astrophysicist and everyone in between."

Mark Bell, head of commissioning for BBC Arts, said the Sunday evening, prime-time programme was "its own show", "very different" to Bake Off and not designed to fill the void left by the hit series.

"We have been looking to develop something in that participation mode for a long time," he said.

"The BBC has a long history of making broad, mainstream, participatory programmes over the years.

"There's a long heritage of arts participation programmes that we want to continue and this is absolutely a new stab at doing that.

"It's got ambition. It's its own show."