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

[GetSetFake]

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.

I don't get it, sorry.

Three men who all live together and have sex with each other is a threesome, to the vast majority of people even if they don’t all get it on at the same time.

People can do as they please but whatever it is, it’s very far from societal norms. And one dresses as a woman for money and entertainment. But somehow this is cosy? Nope. Not in the slightest.

The program makers are selling a product which is the show. The more controversy and media air time it gets, the more its value goes up, the more they can charge for the next one. And THATS why it’s bloody dodgy having vulnerable people on. Just cos you have some bunting and Kath Kidston doesn’t stop it being adjacent to Jeremy Kyle with a whisk.

I am pretty sure Diana didn't get death threats - do you have a source for that? She did come in for online criticism and the whole process was clearly very hard for her. But she wasn't chosen as a sacrificial older vulnerable person - she was a WI judge and I think they would assume she was up for it. They've talked recently about wanting older contestants but them not having the stamina - it will be interesting to see if Connie and Gary can maintain momentum or if they will go out as early as the recent oldies have.

The baker who did get death threats was Nadia, who was an absolute delight on the programme but even in the less fractured times of 2015 got hate just for being a Muslim woman on TV.

A bit of a stretch to call it Jeremy Kyle adjacent.

I have only just caught up with episode 1 having convinced myself it started next month.

I like Alison - she is the closest we have had to Mel and Sue in terms of warmth and humour. Noel is ok, I've become used to him but I miss Mel and Sue. Too soon to have a view on Nigella. I've enjoyed some of her other series so hopefully she will find her persona for Bake Off.

I agree there is a surprising gap in the age groups. I wonder if that is intentional in a drive for the yoof audience?

I also heard Shannon and thought Chelsea! I was really shocked they did not have an adapted bench for Molly and agree it raises safety concerns.
Its too soon to have more than impressions of the contestants but I liked Nikki, Mo and Moyin - found some of their ideas interesting and a bit different. I was impressed by Tom's bakes but found him a bit irritating (and Nan-ish) and I also found Clara and Danni quite irritating (I'll disembowel myself later). Based on week 1 Danni also looked to be the weakest baker - I wonder if we will see a miracle turnaround next week for the drahma? I find my eyes rolling at the drag cake being described as "profound". Its cake. I also don't find blue cake appealing but it can be beautiful - there was a blue mirrorglaze cake some years ago which was incredible (the planet earth IIRC?).

I missed the news about Extra Slice? Has it gone altogether? Is this podcast the replacement or additional? I've not seen it yet, but podcast without an audience after the show is a trend for reality shows.

Jeremy Kyle with a whisk 🤣

I would most definitely prefer to discuss cake, and particularly enjoy a good coffee and walnut with proper buttercream.

I am not prepared to let C4 off the hook for exploiting vulnerable people though. It isn’t my idea of cosy.

Molly's bench was lower which you could see from certain angles . I am sure they will have discussed things with her as C4 is great re disability inclusion and representation, generally.

A good start to this series, I like Nigella. Mo looked so melancholy, even when he got star baker! Let's hope irritating woman who refers to cake by gender gets the boot next week.....

The Extra Slice replacement is on the same night, an hour after the end of the programme. I only watched a few minutes. It seemed kind of under-powered to me, though it had Alison H and Nigella on as guests.

Yes. But having read that article I would blame the husband most. It looks like a textbook case of grooming. He was a significant father figure in her life when she was an actual child.

I blame them both. Look what a travesty of a human being they created.

All of this viciousness being aimed at Danni makes me feel protective of the poor girl. What on earth has she done to deserve it other than be a bit eccentric and say “indeedaroony.” The vitriol even on this thread is out of all proportion. If she is grating on you that much, reflect on the possibility that maybe you are mean spirited

What “viciousness” specifically?

People saying they won’t watch as long as she is on it

How is that vicious?

We'll give you three guesses...

Hint: people find it hurtful to be vehemently disliked

To come on to a Bake Off thread and say that you dislike one of the contestants so much that you won’t watch it as long as she is on there is nasty.

The words annoying, irritating and unbearable are used over and over again about her on this thread. It is out of proportion.

you are entitled to not like this young woman, but I will think you are mean-spirited

On a more positive note, I like Tom and Gary so far

It does feel like the standard is a little lower this year. Jasmine would have bashed out a perfect coffee and walnut cake last year

I was trying to work out if it was lowered but it didn't seem to be - she was having to reach up a lot. If it was low enough then fair enough, my mistake but I was also looking for

• lowered hob set in the workplace so that a wheelchair user can see in and to the back without stretching up out of the chair
• section of lowered worktop with gap under for the chair so that you are not working sideways on and twisting all the time and twisting
• raised oven - not underbuilt with a drop down door. It was when the cake hit the floor you could see she was sideways on reaching down to get to the cake in the oven which isn't particularly safe, particularly if lifting out heavier items.

I know not everyone uses all these adaptations because most users share kitchens and compromise. However, these are benches purpose built for the use of one person during a cooking contest so I was surprised to see her dealing with common kitchen access issues. Also surprised because I agree, C4 has generally been better on disability visibility. She seemed to be working at awkward angles/heights in quite a few shots.

I agree it all looked awkward but I cannot believe the production team did not consult her and disability advisers (they have these at C4).

There was a young woman with similar mobility issues on Location recently looking for accessible housing.

I’m sure the team will discuss adjustments with all contestants and put them in place and make notes. Yes about fairness but also the very bad publicity of not changing things. Really though you need to talk to each individual not decide what any disabled person should have, whether that it lower worktops or anything else.

Molly has made a TikTok talking about this and the adaptations made to make the tent accessible for her - see here!