Welcoming Dame Mary Berry onto Baked With Love: Holiday was a pinch me moment in more ways than one for Tamera Mowry. The Sister, Sister alum, who hosts Hallmark's new baking competition series, exclusively told HELLO!: "It was a pinch me moment in the sense that she literally would always pinch my butt," adding with a laugh: "She just loved my butt, or my bum... But she would do it in such you know that endearing like, 'Hello, dear,' you know, like it was just like, 'Oh, Mary Berry! I don't mind.'"
While Mary showed a cheeky side on set, Tamera noted that the legendary baker is "such a pro." "She was directing herself, and we would all just follow suit. She knew exactly what to say. She knew what was gonna happen even before it happened," Tamera recalled. "When one of the contestants were like needing something or mixing, she's like, 'Oh, dear' and 'I'm like, what, what, what? What's gonna happen?' But her critiques were so warm, and she's very, very, very well-loved in the baking world and I know why. It's because she is extremely knowledgeable, but at the same time, she's warm. She is just lovely."
"And she's 90 years old, by the way!" the Hallmark star continued. "And smarter and has more energy than all of us combined. I'm just like, 'Wow, what's your secret?'"
Asked if she picked anything up from the British baking icon, Tamera reflected: "She wants you to have fun. And I feel like that was like the census from all the judges like don't forget your why. Why you're doing this. And allow yourself to have fun. When you do that, you operate in freedom, and you just have a little bit more ease and things just go smoother. Ironically."
Mary appears in the season finale as a special guest judge. Baked With Love: Holiday, premiering Oct. 27, features 10 pairs of bakers competing in a family-recipe bake-off, with one duo ultimately being crowned the Christmas Baking Champions and taking home $50,000, plus the chance to have one of their bakes featured in a "Countdown to Christmas" movie.
Tamera teased that the new show is "everything that you would anticipate a baking show to have, which is lots of fun desserts, a little bit of chaos, stress, tears, amazing judges, laughter." Though with Baked With Love: Holiday, Tamera pointed out: "You're totally gonna be immersed with love, warmth, a festive Christmas spirit of joy, inspiration. I loved getting to learn about each pair and how they would spend their Christmas, why their family recipes meant so much to them, and with that you become invested."
She added: "I was invested in each and every pair because of that. When they tell their stories, it comes from the heart and there's history connected to it. So you naturally want to see them win and overcome their hiccups. So it's a beautiful, magical journey that you'll be on... Yeah, it's really sweet, and it's visually the most amazing baking show I have ever seen."
Baked With Love: Holiday premieres Monday, Oct. 27, at 9 p.m. ET on Hallmark.