Great British Bake-off: The Final

[StrangerintheNight]

Just typed out a very excitable post only to find the previous thread, on which I was an avid lurker, had exceeded it's capacity. So if you don't mind, I'll start the overflow thread in the lead up to the Grand Final.

- really wasn't expecting that, but so happy!

I had a sudden attack of hayfever at the end when John said he'd finally been able to do something to please his mother. Must have been some stray pollen hiding in the sofa made its way to my eyes.

Go John!!

I might leave the application form open on the PC and frighten DH to death.

The form reminds me - Love Productions are the production company, Paul Hollywood was talking last weekend (lit fest) about checking into hotels with Mary. Great British Bake Off? No reservations under that name sir. BBC? No ... Love Productions? Ah, here it is, sir, madam ...

I couldnt believe that John won!!! I didnt really like him but the title should have gone to Brendan. He was definetly very skilled at baking. I was shocked!

Brendan should have won, far better standard all through the competition. Remember John was in danger of being booted out the week he cut his finger.

Agree with all the posters up thread who say that John won because of his PR friendly possibilities, "oooh look baking is all young and trendy"!
I think Paul and Mary WANTED to give it to James, but his five cake cake was such a disaster they could not, so John was the anti-Brendan.

:o evilwem

It does look really stressful. I would love to apply but Im nowhere near good enough!

Agree totally with newgirlintown! He definetly was the anti-brendan. Its true, he was doing sooooo rubbish in previous bake offs! Totally unfair. Saying that..i do think Brendan thought he had it in 'the bag' and was slightly smug.

So pleased, I really wanted John to win and he deserved it on the night. Only just watched it as I wanted to watch in peace sfter getting the DCs to bed, it was worth the wait.

Feel bereft- what are we going to watch now???????????

Funny how Paul said when it came to the deliberations he and Mary said the same name straight away. Sounded to me like it was clear to them both right away that John was the winner. His bakes must have had the edge taste wise.

I'm still really shocked about James though. Seriously, what the hell happened to him at all? It was very weird!

I was also very surprised, sort of new James was not going to get it, too many errors on the night. Brendan as everyone has said has been sooooo consistant through out the ten weeks, very few let downs. I am surprised but do wonder if theres an element of giving the accolade to someone younger for them to maybe go on and make a career out of it? Oh..........what will we watch now..................feel bereft!

James just got too ambitious didn't he? Then really rattled himself by dropping that mix. Should have concentrated on one fabulous cake instead of five average ones.

That chocolate cake of John's did look absolutely divine.

I do think as far as Brendan goes it was exactly what Paul said, he was great when he could practise but didn't cope with the technical challenges. Plus everything looked like it came out of Good Housekeeping 1975 Edition.

seeker I think there's a Christmas special ... and Paul has some stuff coming up early next year, one thing may be with Mary Berry. Not sure, he was talking at an afternoon tea and I was too busy stuffing scones in my face to listen properly.

Did read in the Mail today that Paul Hollywood is starting a new series of his own on bread. I bought his book a few weeks ago and I must say its excellent, I have been baking for over 30 years and I learnt a few things! I didn`t realize that he also only lives about 15 miles from me and sells his bread in Sandwich (thats not a pun) about 5 miles away!

I'm really shocked John won as Paul and Mary said he was in danger of being booted off after his poor performance last week. I think Brendan should have won and I thought James should be in second place as he is a far more interesting baker than John. I can only surmise that the show wanted a cliffhanger of a final.

Can you imagine Jsmes taking out your appendix "well, I just think that it would be perfectly possible to reach it through the nose......."

So comforted to come on here and read that DP and I are not the only ones to think that Brendan was robbed!

Justice for Brendan... Crown the bakeoff one!

I change horses to Brendan tonight- the dcs and dp were John loyalists throughout- apart from dd, whose hormones made her briefly support James!

I have to disagree, I don't think James deserved to either win it, or come second after his performance in the finale. To be honest, I was a bit annoyed that he made five cakes. It just didn't seem fair to me at all that he made those five separate cakes and I was glad when Paul told him off for it.

Although I liked John and was pleased he won it, if anyone deserved it, it was definitely Brendan. I know he's not as popular but he was consistently good throughout but as I've said before, I think the technical bakes let him down. John just managed to come through and have a particularly good week and it made all the difference in the end. His showstopper cake at the end was a stunner! Very much like his gingerbread collosseum the other week.

Mind you, I can imagine that winning the title will do him no favours whatsoever if and when he goes to study in France! They'll make mincemeat out of him over there!

Just catching up now. I feel so so sorry for James. That last showstopper just didn't quite work. John seemed so much calmer in the final than he has been in previous weeks. Brendan was consistent over the series, but I felt some of his creations lacked a little bit of "it".

Pleased for John. Obviously wanted James to win but it just didn't happen for him in the final. I'm willing to help cheer him up though

I HAVE NO WORDS TO EXPRESS HOW I FEEL!

Embrace the ALL CAPS, squoosh. They say more than simple words ever can.

based on merit brendan was way above james and should have won. there seems to be quite a bit of favoritism which isnt fair IMO. so if the judges dnt like you, you cant win, no matter how good u r.. hmmmm

DOWN WITH THIS SORT OF THING

James' chickens came home to roost last night . You can't wing a final. The showstopper was badly planned and poorly constructed. I think John just pulled it out of the bag last night. Of the the three cakes, his was a showstopper. I bet it tasted fab too