GBBO 2020!!

[5foot5]

I couldn't see a thread on this so apologies if there was one and I missed it.

Apparently this will be on before the end of the year, filming has just finished

GBBO

Yay!! Something good on the tele to look forward to for a change

ppeat, apart from Selasi who we all seemed to adore

Ah Selasi.

The beautiful Selasi... he was lovely!

@ppeatfruit

Soupcon Yes Nadiya is amazing! I'm so glad that the BEEB took her up, her programmes are lovely . (If a little heavy on the sugar for me!)

It seems if you're pretty, like Sura too, and wear a scarf you don't get the snideyness.

Ref. Lottie's hair, it's very fine, she puts it up in a pony tail, apart from greasing it down or having a buzz cut, how could she stop her fringe from getting loose? She likes a long fringe obviously. It's so not a big deal.

It seems if you're pretty, like Sura too, and wear a scarf you don't get the snideyness.

Sura is stunningly pretty.

I think that the snideness isn't so much regarding youth and looks, but more youth, looks and apparent availability. I don't think Paul pervs over the married women the way he does over the singles.

@IHaveBrilloHair

Candice made me spend £100 on a dress! She wore it and I loved it so much I bought it.

Hmmmm - pulled a gun on you, did she?

Who remembers Brendan? he was a bit creepy but sweet. I can’t get the image of him oiling his arms for bread week out of my head!

I remember Brendan. Bakes from the seventies. Buddhist. Irish.

Candice runs a pub near (well, near-ish) where I live, I've been meaning to try it out for so long. Thanks for reminding me - going to look it up now!

Agree with pp that the circumstances this year must have ruled out loads of potential contestants. For most working people it would be impossible to commit to the long periods of isolating and being available for back to back filming. My understanding is that normally, the episodes are filmed at weekends, and accessible to people from all walks of life - in the past there have been doctors, teachers and many other professionals.

It feels like this year they’ve ended up with a bunch who wouldn’t have been the first selection but became available (perhaps through being furloughed/ retired/out of work) and agreed to commit to the stringent rules around filming.
On the other hand I think one good thing is there’s no stand out front runner so it’s really anyone’s game.
Shame about the overall standard though. I haven’t seen anything yet that’s really wowed me, where I just want to pick it up and take a bite. Honestly I’ve seen tastier looking bakes brought into work by my colleagues most weeks

Caelano I think that it's this year's standard that has made it soo friendly and more accessible to 'normal' bakers like me! As you say it really does seem to be anyones.

We'll have to differ over Paul Schady I don't think he's a perv. just a bloke.

There was a rather good looking fellow in the first one ever, he had floppy dark hair I don't remember his name.

Sura is stunningly pretty. Yes she is

Sura is beautiful but usually looked so miserable and uptight. I cant get past her swiping the other contestant’s cakes all over the floor in an earlier episode... I mean of course it was accidental but who on earth waves their arm like that in a crowded tent where everyone is carefully laying out their handiwork... it felt like she was totally self absorbed and unaware of anyone else.

I agree people do tend to be negative about some of the younger female contestants but that’s partly because the show does seem to go for a bit of a type... long flicky hair, doe eyes, often self deprecating. Gets a bit tiresome at times. Overall the younger men feel more authentic, as if they’re genuinely there just for the baking and couldn’t give a shit about playing to the camera. Steph was the worst - all that trembling lip and teary eyes and saying how rubbish she was when we could all see she was a decent baker. Though even then I think it was partly because she had oodles of time; baking was a full time hobby from what she said.

Lottie has a bit more about her and isn’t doing the woe is me thing, but god she’s not going to last long if she can’t up her game.

Overall my favourite contestants have been the ones who clearly enjoy baking as a past time but have other interesting things going on in their lives- the medics, architects, scientists, head teachers etc. You feel the genuine pleasure and it’s not simply a case of having had endless time to practise

Caelono Nope, IMO they go for fat ones, thin ones, older ones younger ones .Not for one 'type' at all.

Of course the older ones have had more TIME to practice. But the winners have often been in their 30s\40s

I agree there are all ages, shapes and sizes! But within that, there seems to be a bit of a theme that one of the younger women is a bit doe eyed, self deprecating which is a tad tedious because it feels a tad fake, like they’re self conscious and too concerned with how they’re coming across

And yes of course the older the contestant,
In theory the more years they’ll have had to practice. But again, that’s not really the point I was making. Steph, who was one of the finalists, was fairly young but it became clear that she apparently had the time to devote hours every day to baking, which is very different from a busy professional who does a bit of hobby baking now and then. Personally I find the latter more interesting as they often have a lot to say about other aspects of their life

So I think the problem with classically beautiful women like Ruby and Lottie is that some women who look like that have been so used to being told they are beautiful, being fawned over by men, and getting exactly what they want from life because of their looks, that they don't develop a personality. (I have met them - i was great friends with one, who did have a personality, but she was definitely used to getting her own way if she batted her eyelids, as she tried it once on me!) So yes, I think sometimes beautiful women get treated badly because of that expectation. That's what drove me mad about Ruby - I'm sure she was lovely, but it was edited to look like all she did was do that doe-eyed look to get her own way, and you never saw any warmth/sense of humour coming through. With Lottie, she comes across really well with that self-deprecating humour (though I confess that I disliked her in the first weeks because of her looks) (and yes, as an ugly fat cow, i am jealous!).

Steph was the worst - all that trembling lip and teary eyes and saying how rubbish she was when we could all see she was a decent baker

I wouldn't be too quick to judge

www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/eating-disorder-awareness-week-2020-steph-blackwell-bake-mother-jane-beat-charity-a9380481.html

[quote Artforartssake]Steph was the worst - all that trembling lip and teary eyes and saying how rubbish she was when we could all see she was a decent baker

I wouldn't be too quick to judge

www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/eating-disorder-awareness-week-2020-steph-blackwell-bake-mother-jane-beat-charity-a9380481.html[/quote]
Yes, I think that was an incredibly unpleasant comment about Steph, who was fairly obviously a fragile person, and was upfront all along about how she'd struggled with depression and baked as therapy. For someone who, by her own account, had difficulty leaving the house, as well as with eating, she did remarkably to get to the final and get four star bakers.

I found Ruby very irritating and wouldn't have been surprised to see her crouched in a corner, scowling and sucking her thumb. Still had some growing up to do.

@WhatWillSantaBring

So I think the problem with classically beautiful women like Ruby and Lottie is that some women who look like that have been so used to being told they are beautiful, being fawned over by men, and getting exactly what they want from life because of their looks, that they don't develop a personality. (I have met them - i was great friends with one, who did have a personality, but she was definitely used to getting her own way if she batted her eyelids, as she tried it once on me!) So yes, I think sometimes beautiful women get treated badly because of that expectation. That's what drove me mad about Ruby - I'm sure she was lovely, but it was edited to look like all she did was do that doe-eyed look to get her own way, and you never saw any warmth/sense of humour coming through. With Lottie, she comes across really well with that self-deprecating humour (though I confess that I disliked her in the first weeks because of her looks) (and yes, as an ugly fat cow, i am jealous!).

I think that, as you would probably acknowledge, this says more about your own hang-ups than any of these competitors. Rahul, to mention only one male competitor, was at least as elaborately self-deprecating and wide-eyed and 'What? Poor little me star baker?' throughout the series, as any woman competitor has ever been.

Many GBBO competitors have talked down the years about not recognising other contestants in the broadcast programmes because the edit had chosen to focus on a particular aspect of them ()I think Dani the medic talks about it in her blog, and about the disappointment of her friends and family at not seeing the version of her they knew on screen), so it seems a bit much to have an entrenched dislike for a contestant when you acknowledge yourself that the 'person' as presented on TV is essentially a fictional construct based on editing decisions.

Oh, totally. I recognise that they can edit someone to appear a certain way, and I also recognise my own hang ups, but isn’t the point of shows like this (which is not a documentary but entertainment) that viewers are supposed to form opinions of contestants - however irrational and shallow those opinions they may be. I’m sure they don’t pick the final contestants based just on baking ability, but to ensure a variety of personality types and interesting people. So I suspect the auditions will wheedle out those that can’t really bake at all, but unless someone is truly outstanding, I bet the rest of the decision is based on personality (either real or whatever the producers think they can portray).

Are we talking about Ruby Tandoh (was still a student, became a food writer afterwards) or the other, later Ruby, whose cake fell over while they were all outside on a break?

I liked Ruby Tandoh. I liked the way she hunched about in oversized cardigans in a very teenagery way, and she was very acute in interviews later about the gendered and sexual nature of the online trolling of contestants -- like the fact that Kimberley, one of the other finalists in her year, got attacked for being black and confident.

Anyway, isn't Ruby Tandoh gay? I'd be surprised if she was in any way invested in making men do her bidding by fluttering her eyelashes at them.

I did also admire her hair in every episode.

I’m not sure going on a national TV competition is the best move if you’re fragile. It can’t be easy for the judges or other competitors (aside from anything else) if one contestant looks at risk of crumbling if anything goes wrong. The technical task in particular is nerve wracking as they’ve had no chance to prep.

End of the day it’s entertainment and a fun way of seeing what ordinary men and women can bake. God forbid it goes down the route of those reality shows where people just want their moment of glory or need hours of therapy to cope with the experience.

@Caelano

I’m not sure going on a national TV competition is the best move if you’re fragile. It can’t be easy for the judges or other competitors (aside from anything else) if one contestant looks at risk of crumbling if anything goes wrong. The technical task in particular is nerve wracking as they’ve had no chance to prep.

End of the day it’s entertainment and a fun way of seeing what ordinary men and women can bake. God forbid it goes down the route of those reality shows where people just want their moment of glory or need hours of therapy to cope with the experience.

Charming. Yes all these pesky people with mh issues getting in the way of entertainment!

A bit like Nadiya Hussain perhaps?

I’m sure they don’t pick the final contestants based just on baking ability, but to ensure a variety of personality types and interesting people. So I suspect the auditions will wheedle out those that can’t really bake at all, but unless someone is truly outstanding, I bet the rest of the decision is based on personality (either real or whatever the producers think they can portray).

Oh, absolutely. I think we need to think of the selection process not as 'finding out who are the best bakers who applied this year', but in terms of casting, the way producers would cast a series of any other reality show.

I mean, for Big Brother they look for personalities that will cause conflict, so it's not quite the same, but the GBBO producers, as well as looking for a range of ethnicities, ages and sexes, are looking to cast for 'good stories' (did you teach yourself to bake bread when living on a remote island where you either baked or did without, or after you woke up from a coma? did your granny smuggle out family recipes on the Kindertransport?), and people who come across well on camera, and are relaxed enough to interact with one another and the judges and presenters.

No one would cast me, no matter how well I baked, because I would be completely incapable of breaking off to chat to the presenters and judges. I would just grunt. Also, I look really sullen when I concentrate. It wouldn't be warm and fuzzy TV.

‘Charming. Yes all these pesky people with mh issues getting in the way of entertainment!’

Interesting spin to put on it

My actual point being, National TV is the sort of pressure many people wouldn’t put themselves under, even if they’re pretty resilient types. Unless someone’s been living under a rock, they know what comes with it. Not just the pressure of the competition and being on TV but all the other stuff that goes along with it.

Of course, it’s up to individuals whether being on telly is enough to make up for that, it’s not about excluding anyone. But Christ, the downsides to it are pretty well publicised