26 things you probably didn’t know about ‘The Great British Baking Show’

Nearly 11 million people watched the first episode of the 11th season, making it Channel 4’s largest non-film broadcast since 1985, according to the network. 

In 2016, the show also made history when 15.9 million viewers watched the season-seven finale, the largest audience the UK’s recorded since the London Olympics in 2012.

It’s still one of Britain’s most popular shows, which cocreator and executive producer Richard McKerrow chalked up to the nature of the series.

“It is a television series, but we always try to think of it as an event, almost like a Wimbledon, or an Olympics,” McKerrow told The New York Times in 2020.

The “Bake Off” application process includes multiple steps, such as a preliminary form — which season seven’s Rav Bansal told Business Insider is the “longest application form in the history of forms” — a phone interview, and a screen test.

Additionally, prospective contestants also have to complete an off-camera skills test that requires both sweet and savory bakes, according to season-four baker Ali Imdad.

“… a food technician there will try your bakes, critique them, and if they like what they’ve seen, they’ll put you in the next round, where they’ll get you to bake some scones and bread,” Imdad told BI in 2021. “Sometimes there will be judges there to critique you. Sometimes it will just be food technicians.”

Before they start filming, contestants must turn in the “10 signature and showstopper bake recipes” they would make in the finale if they make it that far. 

The recipes are then examined by the show’s food producer.

Amourdoux told BI that the process can still be overwhelming despite the fact contestants are given ample time to prep and practice the recipes.

“When we write our recipes that in itself is a nightmare of a process,” Amourdoux said. “We have to write step-by-step what we’re doing, what ingredients we need, and how much exactly you need if things go wrong.” 

Though episodes typically take two days to shoot, the “home economics” team starts working a few days before filming so they can gather ingredients. 

“Basically we’re in charge of everything to do with the food and the equipment,” Georgia May, a member of the team, told The Guardian in 2014. “We’ve got to make sure the contestants are happy. They can specify what brand of a product they want, we have to get it and then de-brand it for screen.”

Once contestants get their recipes approved, they submit the list of ingredients they’ll need, within reason. 

“If you need a rare vanilla bean that can only be sourced from a remote region of the Amazon Jungle in South America, then they may offer an alternative or encourage you to provide it yourself,” Bansal told BI. 

Hart also told BI that contestants can even request the exact brand they want for each ingredient.

The show’s home economics team tests the ovens daily by baking Victoria sponges, a type of cake. 

“We mark each one, then get a runner to stand at each station with their cake mix so we can be sure they’ve all gone into the oven at the same time and can be properly tested,” May told The Guardian in 2014. “We just have to be certain we’re fair.”

“They do that to make sure that all the ovens are working properly and no-one can blame a bad bake on a technical malfunction,” Imdad told BirminghamLive in 2017.

Contrary to reality-show stereotypes, the judges have total control over who gets the boot.

Former “Great British Baking Show” judge Mary Berry told BBC Good Food, “That’s why we might get three girls in a final, or three boys — maybe it’s not great television, but that’s just what happened.”

“We always judge on what takes place on the day — not the week before, or the week before that,” she added.

It may look spacious on camera, but Amourdoux told BI that the tent can get a bit cramped. 

“The start of each episode is shot in the tent, and then after that everything else is shot on the outside,” he said. “That’s because there are close to 100 people right in the middle of that small little tent.”

The show’s 2013 winner Frances Quinn told Cosmopolitan in 2019 that contestants are interviewed about eight times a day so the producers can get enough content for an hourlong show. 

“They just have to get so much footage for an hour show,” Quinn said. “You’re being interviewed about eight times a day, just so they’ve got every type of answer and every type of question has been asked.”

Fluctuating temperatures, bouncy floors, and lack of time are just a few things that make conditions tough in the tent, said Quinn.

“It’s completely alien to your own kitchen at home,” she said told Cosmopolitan in that same interview. “The temperature fluctuates—you’d be making a meringue and it would start raining, or we’d try and make pastry and it would be 27 degrees outside. The technical challenges and lack of time and lack of fridge and work-space are the enemy on that show.”

Even though episodes are filmed over two days, the bakers and judges have to wear the same outfits for continuity reasons. But after only a single day of baking, those clothes can get quite dirty.

“It’s easier if you’re a presenter or Paul Hollywood because I’ll tell you what, he’s only there for about an hour. After that, he goes and changes and chills out,” Amourdoux told BI. “But if you are a baker, you are sweating in those clothes and you’re proper stinky.”

Amourdoux said that some contestants brought an extra identical set of clothes. Bansal told BI others ended up washing their outfits in the hotel bathtub.

Contestants sign a nondisclosure agreement and aren’t allowed to tell most of their loved ones about their accomplishments until after the show airs.

Hart said she told her kids and close friends that she had signed up for a course.

“My kids didn’t know where I was because of the NDA,” Hart told BI. “They would tell the world, my kids, they couldn’t keep that secret.”  

Unlike cooking-competition shows like “MasterChef” where contestants compete to win $250,000, “The Great British Baking Show” offers no cash prize to the winner.

Instead, they receive a bouquet of flowers, a cake stand, and a bit of fame. 

This story was originally published on October 23, 2020, and most recently updated on October 22, 2024.