A former managing director of Love Productions, the company behind The Great British Bake Off, is suing Sky after alleging she was fired for raising concerns about how the broadcaster was managing one of British television's most valuable brands.

Letty Kavanagh, who spent 18 years at Love Productions, has filed two legal claims through London law firm Kingsley Napley: a High Court lawsuit for breach of contract and an employment tribunal for wrongful dismissal and gender discrimination. Sky said it would "robustly defend" the claims and denied any wrongdoing, according to Deadline (Deadline, 6 August 2026).

At the centre of the dispute is a question of loyalty. Kavanagh alleges that Sky tried to poach Bake Off from Channel 4 in 2024, when the series was up for renewal. The show ultimately stayed on Channel 4. Kavanagh argues that Sky's pursuit was a conflict of interest because, as Love's owner, Sky had access to confidential contractual details — including Channel 4's funding agreement and talent deals. Sky disputes this, saying there was no legal conflict because it wholly owns Bake Off. The broadcaster cited ITV's acquisition of The Voice from the BBC in 2015, after ITV Studios bought the format's creator, Talpa, as a comparable precedent (Deadline, 6 August 2026).

Kavanagh also alleges that Sky planned to scale back the Bake Off empire by cancelling spin-off series, including a celebrity version and Junior Bake Off. She argues this would damage the brand and put hundreds of staff and freelancer jobs at risk. After she sought meetings and assurances from Sky's senior management, Kavanagh says, the company retaliated by terminating her contract and escorting her out of the building (Deadline, 6 August 2026).

Her gender discrimination claim alleges that male colleagues were treated more favourably when they left Love Productions. Kavanagh says Sky is refusing to pay money she is owed, while male departures received payouts. Kieran Smith, Love Productions' former creative director, is understood to share some of Kavanagh's concerns and is separately in dispute with Sky and Love through ACAS, the UK's workplace conciliation service (Deadline, 6 August 2026).

A Sky spokesperson 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" (Deadline, 6 August 2026).

The lawsuit lands amid a broader reshuffling of Love Productions' ownership. Sky took full control of the company in February 2020 (Deadline, 22 July 2020), having first bought a 70% stake in 2014 (The Guardian, 21 July 2014). In July 2026, Sky agreed to sell Love Productions to ITV Studios as a £200 million side-deal to its acquisition of ITV itself (Deadline, 5 July 2026).

Kavanagh had been part of a new management team that took over from founder Richard McKerrow in February 2025. Nine months later, Sky installed former BBC Studios executive Ralph Lee as Love's boss and announced Kavanagh's departure. Creative director Kieran Smith and executive editor Simon Evans exited at the same time (Deadline, 6 August 2026).

Love Productions has weathered legal turbulence before. In 2016, the company accused the BBC of copying the Bake Off format and threatened to sue. The BBC conceded before proceedings were issued and paid undisclosed compensation (The Guardian, 14 September 2016). That same year, Bake Off moved from the BBC to Channel 4 after more than a year of failed renewal negotiations (Deadline, 12 September 2016).

For a show that has become a fixture of British cultural life, the legal fight now unfolding behind the scenes is a reminder of how much business sits underneath the tent.