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

The series is called "The Great British Bake Off" in the UK and "The Great British Baking Show" in the US because the American baking company Pillsbury owns the trademark for the term "bake off."

The term was used in 1949 when the brand celebrated its 80th anniversary by asking consumers for their best recipes using its flour.

The top 100 submissions were entered in a live competition in New York City in the Grand National Recipe and Baking Contest — which later became known as the Pillsbury Bake-Off.

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.

Of those 12,000 applicants, 300 to 400 people get a first-round audition, and 50 to 60 applicants make it to the second round. The final 12 are picked after the filmed technical challenge.

The show looks for bakers with traditional skills who also use new techniques. But ultimately, the decision comes down to the contestant's skills. 

The show's producer Sam Beddoes told BBC Good Food, "When it comes down to deciding who goes on the show, it's based on baking, not personality. You can have brilliant characters, but if they're going to go out in the first round there's no point."

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."

Season-nine contestant Antony Amourdoux told BI in 2021 that the remaining 30 to 40 applicants must meet with a psychologist to make sure they can handle the stress of competing on the series. 

From there, the final group of 12 or 13 finalists is selected. 

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." 

Season-eight baker Stacey Hart told BI in 2021 that the technical rounds "really are a surprise."

She said that contestants in the back have a bit of an upper hand since bakers aren't allowed to turn around to see what the others are doing.

Amourdoux added that even once the challenge is announced, bakers don't have a lot of information to go off. 

"The technical round is a nightmare," he told BI. "None of the instructions are thorough. The instructions they give you are sort of all half-baked." 

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."

According to The Guardian, during season four alone, the bakers went through over 440 pounds of flour, 176 pounds of chocolate, 330 pounds of sugar, 198 pounds of butter, 9 gallons of double cream, and 2,000 eggs. They also used 21 different types of flour.

In total, this amount of baking led to 208 hours of clean-up time.

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.

Although it isn't a requirement, Hart told BI she chose to bring her own supplies since she was more familiar with her equipment.

"I used to walk up with bags and bags of my own stuff all named with labels because I just trust my own pans and I just trust my own knives and spatulas," she said. "My car was filled with all of my pots and pans and everything — even down to my cooling racks."

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.

Although it seems like there are too many bakes to eat, Amourdoux said there are over 100 people in the tent, so they don't go to waste. 

"As soon as they are allowed to eat it everything just disappears in minutes," Amourdoux told BI. "The crew and production team dig in, and each of the bakers is sent bites of each other's bakes, so we all get to taste each other's as well."

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.

Tom Hovey has worked for the show since its start in 2010 and has also produced the graphics for the show's spin-offs, like "Junior Bake Off." He has drawn over 3,000 baked goods.  

After each episode is filmed, Hovey receives photos of the finished bakes and he spends about a week illustrating.

"My illustrations are a representation of what the bakers hope to create," he told BBC. "Even if the bakers don't produce what they've intended to, I have a degree of artistic license to make them look good."

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."

Amourdoux told BI that contestants start filming early in the morning and don't wrap up until 6 p.m. or 7 p.m.

"Normally they shoot on the weekends because some contestants work — like I was working," he said. "So Saturday will be the whole day and Sunday will be early in the morning to around midday."

Season-eight baker Tom Hetherington told BI in 2021 that filming for that long "becomes very exhausting and very stressful."

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."

In the beginning, the 12 contestants may outnumber the cameras — but toward the end, Quinn said contestants should always expect a camera in their face.

" ... They want a camera on you every time you're going in the oven, looking in the oven, bringing something out of the oven," she said. "The thing is to not express when something goes wrong — that's when the camera will be on you."

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."

Although many temperature-sensitive bakes — like those that call for ice cream or chocolate — often fall on the hottest days, Hetherington told BI the team was once forgiving during a challenge that required a spun-sugar piece.

"Because they have to do beauty shots of the cakes on the turntable before the judging they said to us, 'Look we know that lots of the sugar work are going to dissolve because of the humidity so if you have time you can make a spare one,'" he recalled.

Hetherington added that was the only time he remembers that sort of leniency, though.

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.

Hart told BI that although it may have been stricter on her season (since it was the first that aired on Channel 4), bakers aren't allowed access to their phones during filming.

"We weren't allowed to have our phones during the day which was upsetting," Hart said. "In fact, my son broke his arm one day and I didn't know."

She added that they're allowed to check their phones and communicate with the outside world once they leave the set.

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."  

During downtime on set, the former judge said she used to binge the AMC drama "Breaking Bad" with former presenters Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins.

Berry told the Telegraph in 2014, "It's better than motor racing, which [my husband] watches - though I'd prefer 'Downton Abbey.'"

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.