The Bake Is Back - the countdown to Great British Bake Off 2026 starts here

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Trailer for the new series just dropped - no transmission date yet though.

Anyone else excited to see how Nigella gets on as the new judge? A worthy successor to Pru and Mary, I think.

There are still hierarchies on a set! I can't imagine production crew coming up to their new star judge and saying 'Look, Nigella, we've been looking at the footage and the way you're eating looks weird, so can you taste cake differently from now on, please? Make your mouth look more relaxed? Thanks!'

Well I guess beauty is always a bit personal, but I can't think of any other women on British tv as genuinely beautiful.

But that's a bit beside the point.

I'm not sure if you have watched her own series. She wasn't at all awkward then, and I think spoon-licking close-up type filming was sort of a part of it, and maybe the producers had been influenced by that and were not adjusting the mood enough for a brightly-lit and more clinical Bake Off kitchen, as opposed to the cosier environment her series was filmed in. Perhaps you are right and they just need to adjust a bit.

Also, she is older now, and, as this thread shows, audiences can be very critical, and that knowledge might have added to her awkwardness. There have been comments about her teeth/speech, and was it Botox, false teeth whatever. We all just get older and I suppose coming back to the screen after a gap makes for a bit of awkwardness on that front.

But honestly, if I'm like her at her age, I'll be thrilled!

Danni has pronouns of They/Them. 🙄

There was an episode of Nigella's series (forget what it was called, sorry) when she is filmed "apparently" getting up in the night and cooking up a "snack." It was all presented as being a very helpful and practical suggestion for when you get up in the night, slip on a silk robe and descend to the kitchen to cook up something most people would call a meal at around 4 in the morning, as if that was a sort of weekly happening for most people!

I loved it, and it sort of perfectly captured the feel of Nigella's approach to food for me. Why not? It's never the wrong moment to feed the soul.

You know, I’m increasingly uncomfortable with the series this year. As a PP said, it’s like they’ve gone through all legal protected categories and made sure they had at least one of each.

But there’s something else - the ones they have are in some cases extreme. You can’t tell me that it’s usual to be a drag queen in the thripple or throttle etc and yet we are meant to hunker down into autumn and Be Kind whilst people I suspect are very very vulnerable are open to huge and uncontrolled exposure.

What used to be about cake, now has a strong whiff of a Bedlam Visitor about it.

I’ve never watched anything Nigella has done and I was quite sad that Prue decided to step down, although I understand why! I have to say, after the first episode, I was pretty underwhelmed by Nigella - she seemed awkward and less authentic than Prue was with the contestants. I always felt Prue dealt with them with real warmth and good humour. Maybe Nigella will settle into it but I really don’t love her in the role. Oh well, I survived Matt Lucas; I’m sure I can survive Nigella’s tenure.

I think a lot of life is getting like that though isn't it? Not just GBBO.

I agree about exposure of vulnerable people. It's time we genuinely looked after each other as a society - and not in an antsy, angry way, or a kindness with a capital K way, but just a properly human way.

But they could edit it so you don't see her eating so often. And/or have the camera crew film from further away so she didn't feel so self-conscious.
And as for hierarchies, anyway, the production crew do get to ask/tell judges what to do, no matter how starry.

I'm afraid that Prue Leith has gone down in my estimation a bit after I learned this last month: Prue Leith reflects on her 13-year affair with first husband and ‘amazing’ forgiveness when his wife found out | Woman & Home. Poor Nan.

I like Nigella, and I think it was nerves and shyness (possibly also some new teeth veneers) which made her appear awkward. I'm sure it will get better as the series beds in. She is a lovely, natural person IRL, and her personal life has not been an easy one. Her persona in her own shows was easy to cultivate and maintain because it was in a carefully controlled studio/home kitchen environment with few others present, so she could shine on her own terms and in her own skin. Being in the Bake Off tent with a larger crew, cast and unknown variables, plus the weight of expectation and legacy is bound to make anyone a bit nervous to start with. Plus I suspect she feared she was going to be hit with a barrage of innuendos, as people who don't really know the sum of her work might think that's solely what she's about. I think there was a whiff of that from some of the contestants, offering up innuendo because they thought that's what would chime best with her - but that was only really a light touch in her shows, and not the sum of the whole. I could almost sense a bit of apprehension about her when she felt that a clumsy double-entendre might be imminent. And she sensibly didn't really respond to them.

I thought her comments were fair and balanced and I loved the fact that she took a good bite from each one. After all the slog the bakers put in, it must be galling to be judged on the strength of the smallest forkful. Quite refreshing to see her taking a good healthy piece.

Agree all this re Nigella. I really like her.

Had not known that about Prue.😳At least she is big enough to admit she "cannot justify it" - though the backstory does sound a little more complicated than some.

This does make her use of "she" for the cake even more curious ...😂

I agree with your bedlam comments. I assess and treat people with neurodivergent conditions and am used to taking people in my stride, but don’t tell me Danni or Drag man have been selected because they are representative of the countries best bakers. They have been chosen to generate discussion and clicks, which is shameful behaviour by channel 4. (And I can see the irony of me joining in here). It’s like the X factor where talentless singers auditions used to shown for the public to laugh at them.

Oh yeh Prue the homewrecker! I remember that coming out a few years ago.
Unrelated to this year but has everyone seen Laura Adlington (mentioned above) from series 11 on Instagram? She has a great career with her account "style not size - helping you feel good in your clothes". I flipping love her.

PS we also call it sticky willy round here

I also like Nigella, the only thing I dislike is she’s clearly had a lot of work done, and she continues to say she hates all tweakments and has had nothing done. I don’t know why women do that, it’s blindingly obvious her 66 year old face has had a huge amount of work. As said, she looks great, but lying and pretending she’s naturally like that as she didn’t go in the sun isn’t ok in my book.

That's why the negative attacks particularly annoy me (as well as being mean just being actually, well, ... mean).

And as you say, there's an irony about stepping in and saying anything whatsoever, but also a protective instinct.

Great post.
You're spot on about the difference between her own shows and this one.
I have always thought it a pity that TV Nigella has marketed herself (and/or perhaps been pushed to) on being naughty and sexy; her books are so different. Yes, they're witty, and she loves a bit of camp, but they're so thoughtful, literate, intelligent; which I suspect is closer to the real Nigella.
I agree about the tasting size too.

But everyone on the show was referring to her as 'her/she' throughout.

You can’t tell me that it’s usual to be a drag queen in the thripple or throttle etc
I don't think anyone is saying it's usual/common. But is it really too much to ask that people don't get pearl-clutchy about it? There's been a few seconds footage and one mention of his partners. There might be a mention or two later on (he might say e.g. 'I make this for my partners sometimes for birthdays'). I presume one or both will be present at the final, and may say something to camera, about him or about who they think will win. Out of however many weeks of an hour-long show about baking, there are going to be many many more baking-related moments to focus on and talk about.
I also didn't get the impression that he was vulnerable and needed Being Kind to.

And I think it's deeply offensive to suggest that some contestants are reminiscent of Bedlam inmates.

Not the contestants @AlwaysExtraHot The comparison to Bedlam is the producers and channel 4 parading contestants in the name of entertainment. Just as the public were invited to visit Bedlam.

Yes, that's precisely what I said
Saying that the producers and channel 4 are picking contestants to 'parade' suggests that you think said contestants are reminiscent of Bedlam inmates, who were paraded before visitors in that way by those running the institution – in this analogy, the production team and the channel.

I’m sorry @AlwaysExtraHot but if you think Danni has been chosen for her culinary skills, I have a bridge to sell you. She has been chosen to generate discussion and revenue - so while I am sure she is a perfectly kind person - channel 4 are using her as a grotesque for their purposes, which is to generate revenue, and that makes me uncomfortable.

That makes absolutely no sense as a comparison. The rich visited Bedlam to view inmates as they would animals in a zoo, with a side order of moral instruction, encouraged by the asylum authorities because they donated to the running costs.

Whereas GBBO is a famously cosy, feel-good show, which is deliberately low-conflict, there are no big prizes (you compete for a glass cake dish, not a cash prize or a TV contract) and the atmosphere in the tent is supportive and kind, rather than the cattiness and conflict that is specifically cast for in other 'reality' shows, of which GBBO is a subset. The bakers are cast for their niceness, relatability and ability to come across on camera as warm/self-deprecating/funny even under pressure, every bit as much as for their ability to make cakes.

If the producers cast someone in a throuple and featured a mention of his partners in the first episode, that is because they think that this is unthreatening and entirely in line with the general cosiness of the show.

Obviously, you may not agree (and I'd never previously given any thought to where throuples sat in terms of GBBO 'cosy' norms!), but they will have cast that baker because they thought he fitted in with the show's warm and fuzzy atmosphere, not to 'parade' him like an 18thc asylum inmate!

Interesting that you don't address the Bedlam thing.
And the bridge comment is quite rude and condescending (perhaps deliberately, I grant you).

If we're talking about credulity, though, have you never realised that the casts of shows like this are always picked to generate discussion and revenue? Even the contestants who people on here seem to think are the more acceptable ones, like a 60-something white man, or white female 60-something Nancy in a previous season, are picked because some people will like and support them and will watch every week (= ad revenue) and will discuss and praise them on social media and forums like this, while others will say they or their bakes are 'boring', 'too traditional' etc. All of which will keep discussion going and the profile of the show up.

I actually think you're being offensive about Danni. It's very patronising to damn with faint praise by saying 'she is a perfectly kind person', and insulting to her baking skills that she is only on the show to be used as a 'grotesque'. She is one of the weakest bakers on the show (on the showing of one week anyway), I do agree with that. But some people always have to be the weakest bakers on the show. And I'm pretty sure she's a better baker than me. And she has foraging skills that I don't have.
You on the other hand seem to be viewing her as only present for people to point and gawk at.

The whole thing is it is within our power to NOT "gawk" and be negative.

Whatever the intention might or might not be, you can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink.

ETA and yes, if people want to make snarky little comments like "take a gold medal for being kind" or whatever childish nonsense it was, then so be it. I think a viewing public who don't stoop to cruelty is a good step.

Danni's pronouns are 'Any' according to Bake off deets