Great British Bake Off line-ups confirmed for Christmas and New Year specials 🍰
Tinsel aprons at the ready!
We're only a few weeks away from Christmas, which means New Year isn't far away either, so it's almost time for The Great British Bake Off Christmas and New Year Specials!
We're super excited to see a celeb line-up for the Christmas special featuring TV presenters and actors, while the New Year Special sees former Bake off stars returning to the infamous tent.
What is the line-up for The Great Christmas Bake Off?
This year's Christmas Special will star some very well-known faces including The Big Breakfast's Gaby Roslin, Time Team's Sir Tony Robinson, Pop World's Miquita Oliver, The Word's Terry Christian and Brookside's Claire Sweeney.
Following the excitement in the tent, the celebrities are treated to a beautiful performance of Swan Lake by the English National Ballet.
You can watch The Great Christmas Bake Off on Christmas Day 12:50pm on Channel 4.
What is the line-up for The Great New Year Bake Off?
This year's special features four contestants, who have all featured in previous series of the show and they couldn't contain their excitement to be involved.
Lottie Bedlow
2020 contestant Lottie Bedlow took to her Instagram page to share a couple of photos saying: 'Sucker for punishment me…but what a pleasure it was to go back and bake with these legends. So good to see the crew and team again too - now we know @realmattlucas is leaving, it feels extra special that we had another chance to be in the tent with him and @noel_fielding ! X '.
Chigs Parmar
Meanwhile, last year's finalist Chigs Parmar also took to Instagram to share the news writing: 'Guess who’s back in the tent for “The Great New Year’s Bake Off”
'Getting the opportunity to be in the Bake Off tent once is a dream come true, but baking in it twice 🤯. You can catch the episode on Sunday 1st January/New Year’s Day at 19:40 on @channel4'.
Manon Legrève
Manon who regularly posts delicious looking video recipes for her fans, originally appeared on the 2018 series of Bake Off, and told her fans: 'Wow it was an experience to be back in the tent after 4 years! But what a blast I had, and it was amazing to see the team again. Now, you are going to have to guess whether I did well for Paul & @prueleith !'. (sic)
Antony Amourdoux
Another 2018 contestant, Antony Amourdoux, also shared some photos announcing the news and writing: 'In for one last hurrah in the very coveted British Tent w. Some fab bakers. (sic).
This line-up announcement follows the news that Matt Lucas will be leaving the popular TV show. Matt shared the news in a statement where he revealed: 'It's become clear to me that I can't present both Fantasy Football League and Bake Off alongside all my other projects.'
Matt went on to thank his Bake Off co-host Noel Fielding and judges Prue Leith and Paul Hollywood, saying: 'I would like to give my warmest thanks and gratitude to everyone at Love Productions and Channel 4 and to Noelipops, Paul, Dame Prue, the crew and, of course, the wonderful bakers for welcoming me into the tent.
'I wish whoever takes over the very best and I can't wait to tune into the next series without already knowing who won!'. (sic)
When is The Great British Bake Off New Year special on?
The Great British Bake Off New Year will be shown on Sunday 1st January at 7.40pm on Channel 4 and after on demand on All 4.
Check out these Bake Off facts you may not have known:
1. Anyone can apply for Bake Off
Except professional bakers or chefs!
Applications are open to any UK resident over the age of 16. However they cannot make their main source of income from commercial baking and entrants can't have worked as a professional chef or baker at any point. Plus, applicants cannot have acquired any professional catering qualifications in the last ten years.
2. The GBBO application form is VERY LONG
It's seven pages long, asks a LOT of questions, and demands you reveal the truth about your previous successes and failures in the kitchen.
You can find it here.
3. The Great British Bake Off application process doesn’t stop there!
If they like what they see on your application form, a researcher will call you and give you a 45 minute interview over the phone.
Then, if you pass THAT test, they'll have you whip up two baked treats, bring them to London, have an interview with a producer, and go through a screen test.
Think you're done? Nope!
You then have to try out a Technical Challenge set by the GBBO judges - in front of the camera. They also ask that you bring another bake along (presumably the producers are taste testing these / big fans of cake).
If you're still in the running, you'll then be interviewed by the show's psychologist to make sure they can handle the pressure of filming.
4. GBBO filming is intense
The show is filmed over a 10-week period between April and June, with contestants spending up to 16 hours a day filming.
They manage to package up a whole session of baking into one hour, which means that a lot of it ends up on the cutting room floor.
5... but at least it’s contained to weekends
That's right, contestants only do their GBBO stuff on weekends, which means that they can keep working their normal 9-to-5 jobs in the week.
However they are picked up from their hotels at 9am each Saturday and Sunday morning, to ensure they get as much filming time in as possible.
No rest for the wicked, eh?
6. GBBO contestants don’t do the washing up themselves
There's no dishwasher on Bake Off, because the noise would disrupt filming. Instead, home economists spend 160 hours washing up everything by hand. We hope they all get given a free hand lotion each…
7. GBBO contestants pay for ingredients themselves
Yes, that's right. They only get their ingredients provided when they reach the finals - which makes things pretty expensive. Particularly as they use between 12-20 ingredients per bake.
8. A lot of people are involved in the production of GBBO
There are around 50 crew members on set - and, yes, they all get to tuck into the cakes and goodies after the judges give their verdict.
9. GBBO contestants are encouraged to become friends
Producers take all contestants out for dinner together on the first night, and they usually become good pals over time; they often stay at the same hotel, so dinners and drinks and socialising become pretty regular.
Which means that, yes, they really DO mean it when they say they're happy for the overall winner - they're pretty much all besties by that point!
10. They make more cakes than you’d ever dreamed of
They bake a Victoria Sponge in each oven every single morning of filming, to make sure everything is ship-shape and ready to go. We imagine everyone gets a bit sick of tucking into that particular type of cake come the end of filming!
11. The show is LITERALLY based on village fetes
That's right; Anna Beattie, the show's creator, really believed that village fete baking competitions would suit TV. Anna, judging by the viewing figures, was 100% correct!
12. Mel and Sue recommended Mary Berry
The duo were approached to present the show together - and they were quick to suggest that Mary Berry should be a judge back when GBBO was on BBC One. The show moved to Channel 4 in 2017 without Mary Berry.
13. It’s not a disaster if someone forgets an ingredient
In fact, producers are well and truly prepared if this happens; they have a runner on standby at a local supermarket every morning in case a contestant realises overnight that they've forgotten an ingredient.
14. Oven time is crucial
So much so that contestants aren't allowed to put anything in - or take anything out of - the oven without flagging a producer down first. They want to make sure that they have a camera on standby to film those big baking moments.
15. The Bake Off challenges are NOT surprises
If you make it through to the Bake Off finals, you will be told what the challenges are going to be - and you'll have to submit your recipes for approval. No pressure, eh?
16. Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood were off limits
Back when the show was on BBC One, they preferred to keep things professional with contestants, and wouldn't usually speak to them outside of the Bake Off tent.
17. … but Mel and Sue weren't
The duo were happy to chat to contestants away from the cameras - and Sue even said that she likes to stay in touch with them via email once the show is all over. N'aww.
Now read:
The Great British Bake Off: Where do the leftovers go?
Applications are open for the next series of Bake Off