Life-sized Colin Firth cake created to celebrate Pride And Prejudice anniversary as actor beats Sean Bean to be voted TV’s tastiest male actor

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A life-sized cake of the much-loved Mr Darcy character played by Colin Firth in the BBC mini-series of Pride and Prejudice, has been unveiled.

The 6ft cake was unveiled to the public today at National Trust property Lyme Park in Cheshire – which was used as Mr Darcy’s home Pemberley in the mini-series and where the famous lake scene was filmed.

It was made during the 25th anniversary year of the iconic drama to celebrate the launch of Jane Austen Season on UKTV’s Drama channel.

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A life-sized cake of Mr Darcy, as played by Colin Firth in the TV mini-series of Pride and Prejudice, has been created by world-famous cake designer Michelle Wibowo in the 25th anniversary year of the iconic series to celebrate the launch of Jane Austen season on Drama, which airs on Sundays, 6th – 20th  September. 
Image credit: UKTV /  PinpepA life-sized cake of Mr Darcy, as played by Colin Firth in the TV mini-series of Pride and Prejudice, has been created by world-famous cake designer Michelle Wibowo in the 25th anniversary year of the iconic series to celebrate the launch of Jane Austen season on Drama, which airs on Sundays, 6th – 20th  September. 
Image credit: UKTV /  Pinpep
A life-sized cake of Mr Darcy, as played by Colin Firth in the TV mini-series of Pride and Prejudice, has been created by world-famous cake designer Michelle Wibowo in the 25th anniversary year of the iconic series to celebrate the launch of Jane Austen season on Drama, which airs on Sundays, 6th – 20th  September. Image credit: UKTV /  Pinpep

Colin Firth sparked ‘Darcymania’ in 1995 when he hit TV screens as Pride and Prejudice’s Mr Darcy; and new research reveals that his character is still as much of heartthrob today – with 79 per cent of Brits confirming that he is the ‘tastiest’ male lead to appear in a British TV period drama in the last 30 years.

Slices of the Delicious Darcy cake will be available for visitors to Lyme Park to enjoy from today.

Sheffield actor Sean Bean who proved the all-action, swashbuckling hero as the working class soldier turned officer in ITV’s popular Sharpe adventures came a comfortable second in the poll.

World renowned cake designer, Michelle Wibowo, worked on the creation of Darcy’s cake counterpart; a process which took over 200 hours. Michelle began by assessing images from the screen hit and to create a sketch design to help perfect Firth’s look and create an accurate model even down to the smallest detail.

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A life-sized cake of Mr Darcy, as played by Colin Firth in the TV mini-series of Pride and Prejudice.A life-sized cake of Mr Darcy, as played by Colin Firth in the TV mini-series of Pride and Prejudice.
A life-sized cake of Mr Darcy, as played by Colin Firth in the TV mini-series of Pride and Prejudice.

Cake artist Michelle Wibowo, who created the Mr Darcy sponge master-piece, said: “What better reason than the 25th anniversary of the series of Pride and Prejudice to create a birthday cake to celebrate - it’s taken 20kg of flour, 20kg of butter and 45kg of sugar and I couldn’t be happier with the results. I’ve created cakes of everyone from the Queen to Beyonce, but Mr Darcy officially tops the list as the most delicious model I’ve ever made - and I hope his legions of fans will approve!”

Almost two thirds (63 per cent) of Brits agreed that Mr Darcy’s charm tops the list of his most attractive attributes, with over half (53 per cent) saying it was his voice that won their hearts. Over two thirds (69 per cent) of us would also say that Colin Firth’s portrayal of Elizabeth’s Bennet’s love interest has been their favourite of the Pride and Prejudice variations over the years.

One in four (28 per cent) describe the lake scene where Darcy emerges from the lake filmed there as their favourite in the 1995 depiction of the hit TV series, and 20 per cent of Brits have watched the hit mini-series five or more times!

EDITORIAL USE ONLY. A life-sized cake of Mr Darcy, as played by Colin Firth in the TV mini-series of Pride and Prejudice, has been unveiled today at Lyme Park, Cheshire in the 25th anniversary year of the iconic series.EDITORIAL USE ONLY. A life-sized cake of Mr Darcy, as played by Colin Firth in the TV mini-series of Pride and Prejudice, has been unveiled today at Lyme Park, Cheshire in the 25th anniversary year of the iconic series.
EDITORIAL USE ONLY. A life-sized cake of Mr Darcy, as played by Colin Firth in the TV mini-series of Pride and Prejudice, has been unveiled today at Lyme Park, Cheshire in the 25th anniversary year of the iconic series.

Emma Ayech, Drama channel director said: “We're so excited to be able to celebrate 25 years of the Pride and Prejudice TV classic with our ‘Delicious Darcy’ cake – hopefully one that all the Colin Firth fans out there will enjoy! We can’t wait to bring some classic Austen mini-series to living rooms around the country this September with our Jane Austen Season - as the days start to get shorter, what better way to spend a cosy afternoon than with a period favourite”.

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Top 20 ‘tastiest’ male leads in British period TV dramas over the last 30 years, according to Brits:1. Colin Firth as Mr Darcy in Pride and Prejudice - 79 per cent2. Sean Bean as Richard Sharpe in Sharpe - 71 per cent3. Tom Hardy as Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights - 55 per cent4. Jonathan Rhys Myers as Henry VIII in The Tudors - 51 per cent5. Aidan Turner as Ross Poldark in Poldark - 49 per cent6. Richard Armitage as Mr Thornton in North & South - 48 per cent7. Jonny Lee Miller as Mr Knightley in Emma - 47 per cent8. Rob James-Collier as Thomas Barrow in Downton Abbey - 47 per cent9. Allen Leech as Tom Branson in Downton Abbey - 46 per cent10. Douglas Booth as Pip in Great Expectations – 41 per cent11. Toby Stephens as Mr Rochester in Jane Eyre – 41 per cent12. Dan Stevens as Matthew Crawley in Downton Abbey – 39 per cent13. Rufus Sewell as Will Ladislaw in Middlemarch – 35 per cent14. Eddie Redmayne as Stephen Wraysford in Birdsong – 34 per cent15. Dan Stevens as Edward Ferrars in Sense and Sensibility – 34 per cent16. Jeremy Piven as Harry Selfridge in Mr Selfridge – 33 per cent17. James Norton as Prince Andrei Bolkonsky in War & Peace – 33 per cent18. Rupert Penry-Jones as Captain Wentworth in Persuasion – 33 per cent19. David Oyelowo as Javert in Les Miserables – 28 per cent20. Mark Rylance as Thomas Cromwell in Wolf Hall – 27 per cent

The research and life-sized cake were specially commissioned to celebrate the launch of Jane Austen Season, which airs on Drama on Sundays from September 6 and is also available on free streaming service UKTV Play.

Jane Austen Season airs on Drama and UKTV Play on Sundays from 6th – 20th September, comprising of 2009 BBC Emma mini-series, 2008 BBC Sense & Sensibility mini-series and the 1995 BBC Pride and Prejudice mini-series.

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