OF all the jobs that spell doom to the average diet you’d think that being a top chef and chief taster would probably be the worst.

Well, you’d be wrong — according to that doyenne of chefs, Mary Berry.

The 81-year-old Great British Bake Off star keeps her figure trim by taking simple steps.

Mary counts calories, fills up on vegetables and uses a smaller plate to help maintain her waistline and petite frame even though she samples around 36 cakes a day. In hotels, she has a couple of starters rather than main courses. At lunchtime chooses soup with no bread and a salad “if it’s very hot.” She sensibly goes along with the “everything in moderation” rule, doesn’t think a household should have a deep-fat fryer and doesn’t like sugared drinks for children, favouring water instead.

She is from a generation that knew food deprivation. She didn’t reach the top without an iron will — and it shows.