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.

I might be wrong but most of Nigellas programmes that im aware of have mainly been her presenting to camera, so maybe reacting with/bouncing off others is more unusual for her, whereas Alison for example has always presented with other people.

'It doesn’t matter in our house but I’d be pissed if I was watching a show on baking with my young DCs and was asked to explain what a throuple was ffs.'

I get your point. They seem to have to shoehorn it into every bloody episode too! And Alison fawning over the two of them and their 'boyband' nonsense 🙄 So tedious.

I'm not interested in anyone's kids or mums or brothers or nans either. Take note Strictly 😏

Well, what they mean is some people get the flavour balance and proportions wrong eg too much lemon/not enough coffee etc.

Nigella does seem to enjoy the bakes but wish she wouldn’t talk with her mouth full. I can’t remember Mary or Prue doing that.

I agree, that's the test of skill, but I still think if it tastes good they are basically praising their own recipe!

Well, I never want any of the background stuff (watching Pointless, I'm always saying 'For God's sake, let's just get onto 'Words with six or more letters in the titles of Julia Roberts films' or whatever -- I don't care that the person answering is an gas technician from Surbiton who would put the prize money towards scuba diving lessons!

Having said that, I'm as mildly irritated by being told the names of people's pets or that they do bhangra dancing as I am being told they're in a throuple. I'd rather just see them bake things in the tent.

I get what you mean, I just really don't see it like that.

The family thing was just so yer man could mention he was part of a thruple ....again.
Yes, I'm sure they came up with a whole concept week and a family bake so they could get in a mention of a throuple 🙄

I think people are being grumpy on here. I liked last night's episode and the family thing. I enjoy seeing their family and friends, and their pets, and hearing what they do for work and what their interests are etc. If you don't want to see all that you can watch a more technical cooking/baking show, but I'd find that boring.
I enjoyed how they interacted with their relatives and how everyone interacted with the judges and presenters. Mo and his cousin were hilarious, and I loved Gary's quietly competent sister and her swans.

Connie should have got star baker. I do like Clara, but Connie's showstopper was beautiful and actually more of a showstopper IMO.

It's right that Shannon went, but I will miss her; I loved her humour.

I also love bread week, so I'm looking forward to the next one.

To clarify, the move wasn’t BBC’s choice. It wanted to retain the show after being the initial backer. However, the £75 million asking price from Love Productions Ltd (owned by Sky) was too dear for the Beeb. Channel 4 was the highest bidder. And as per all of channel 4’s shows, this once great show is heading for the ridiculous. Maybe the next series will include naked baking?

Edited to add: I didn’t mind the family bit at all. What’s annoying is the typical channel 4 let’s sex it up by bringing in a throuple and mention it every episode. Just unnecessary. What would Mary Berry say?!

I didn't hate it like you did, but your comment on the producers reminded me that two long term Bake Off producers left this year.

At least one is in legal dispute with Sky, who currently own Love Productions. So there are new producers and maybe this is the start of a move to novelty, which would be a shame. But maybe it's just a random theme week, which they've always done, and means nothing.

There's definitely been a trend towards younger bakers recently, which has changed the tone.

@Fizbosshoes I think Nigella has been a judge on a few programmes in Australia and America, including MasterChef. I don't find her judging awkward, but I think she has quite a distinctive mannered style of speaking which is slightly drawn out. Her feedback is excellent, much more detailed and useful than Paul's. I'm hoping she stays with the series.

I don't find her judging awkward, but I think she has quite a distinctive mannered style of speaking which is slightly drawn out. Her feedback is excellent, much more detailed and useful than Paul's. I'm hoping she stays with the series.
I agree her way of speaking makes her seem a little stilted, but I don't think she actually is. From the way the bakers respond to her, I think she relates well to them. And her vocabulary and the way she talks about food is a joy.
I like her feedback too; she's critical when she has to be, but says why. I really hope she stays on.

I like Nigella on Bake Off. What is lacking, and it was the same with Prue, is the technical knowledge Mary had to advise people how to correct the things which had gone wrong. She just had that edge. However, most experienced bakers will be able to figure things out for themselves.

For next week Molly needs to add more raising agent and stop over mixing or she'll be next to go.

Ah sorry my bad i didnt realise she had done similar type of programmes before

I like her though and feel like she works well on the show.

I like seeing how their job or hobby influences how they bake, theyve had several engineers or engineering students who were super precise with things. But i get fed up when they shoehorn a nan mention into every episode, and I think I'll feel the same if the throuple gets somehow tenuously squeezed in just about every week

Prue was a Michelin starred chef and ran a cookery school - no shortage of technical knowledge there. Nigella is very clear she's not a trained chef but actually is giving excellent feedback and advice. I think that's giving her an edge as a judge.

So agree with you about Pointless. That show could be 15 minutes shorter if they just got on with the questions..
I do enjoy seeing Alexander Armstrong try to look interested in the contestants’ backgrounds 🤣

I don't watch Pointless for that reason. I'd like to watch The 1% Club but the amount of wasted time - chats, lights flashing and twinkly music, going through wrong answers etc - is insane. I bet the programme would last less than 15 minutes if they stripped out all the tedious time-filling. I like The Chase which has plenty of questions and not too much unnecessary filling (apart from consulting the other players about what to do).

I feel like I'm alone, but I never liked Mary Berry as a judge. I thought Prue was very good and I think Nigella will be fine once she relaxes into the role.

I love 1% club but we usually watch on catch up.and fast forward the faff.

Agreed. I always thought of her a culinary Margaret Thatcher.

Harsh I do think she's a Tory, but the old one-nation kind.

Our sofa used to watch GBBO and say ‘Oh, the Milk Snatcher liked that technical!’ 😀

I don't think I disliked that episode as much as some of you, but a wearable showstopper ... WTAF?

I would love to know who this audience was who was surveyed, how they were selected, how many people actually voted for the contestants on GBBO to bake something that could be worn on the body! Surely it was 2 people maximum it's so downright stupid?

I look forward to bread week. I much prefer bread to cake.

That handbag was epic! I was worried the ribbon would snap.
I agree with the decisions. Shannon's was too simple.

Dh may watch bread week with me as he's a keen bread maker. He thinks it's rubbish usually. I'm new to watching and this is the first series I've watched.

Nigella appears to have trouble actually getting food into her mouth.