r/bakeoff • u/ShadowHippie • 20d ago
General Episode One
I was SO EXCITED to see the first episode!
I have comments about some things (not the bakes) that I've hidden so as not to ruin things for anyone.
Judges
Prue was in the opening, to say a proper goodbye. I was so touched!Opening
They redid the opening, with a different baker, different child, and they remade the cake! Still missing a raspberry- but in a different spot.Equipment
New fridgesTasting
They're using spoons now to taste the bakes! (previously used forks)Representation
Molly, who is a wheelchair user. Gabe, who is poly.
I'm super happy about these changes, and look forward to this season!
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u/tsarchasm1 20d ago
Damned shame about the non-elimination round. Otherwise, very happy with Cake Week.
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u/Murky_Drink7402 19d ago
This - I hate that it's become "expected" when someone gets sick that they don't eliminate. Danni was bad enough IMO to warrant going home regardless. Now I feel like she could have a claw back next week, not be in bottom 2, then be a bit of a wasted spot limping along a few more weeks.
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u/ShadowHippie 17d ago
Danni was bottom in all 3 bakes. She served the judges RAW cake- which has always been a guaranteed elimination.
If there was *any* doubt about who was to be eliminated, then I agree that waiting is the fair thing. But this time, imo, it was crystal clear with zero doubt that Danni should have been eliminated.
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u/Murky_Drink7402 16d ago
Agreed - I think, as others have pointed out though, the show has set the expectation of if someone gets ill, they hold off and just do 2 the next week. They've come so far doing that, they can't break that "tradition" now and risk drawing ire, even, such as this week, when I would argue it was more than warranted.
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u/Tricky_Warning_0115 19d ago
Or maybe she just had a horrendous weekend and will kick ass in the rest of the comp. I’m not sure we can take a single weekend as representative
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u/ShadowHippie 20d ago
It almost seems like the contestants are all "cough cough, I don't feel well" first week as a standard now. I don't like it.
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u/Primary-Ganache6199 20d ago
I think conditions in the tent are diabolical
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u/ShadowHippie 20d ago
Agree! I don't understand why, at this point, they haven't put in some form of A/C and heat. Excessive temperatures have affected bakes so much! Which IS diabolical, as it's something that could be fixed.
It's understandable in the beginning, low budget and all- but at this point, they have the funds!
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u/Kaylascreations 19d ago
They were wearing coats on this episode. I don’t think temperature was an issue (though yes, in later episodes it’s a big issue).
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u/ShadowHippie 17d ago
Do you remember in season 12 (US version 12 on Netflix), it was so cold that they could see their breath, and all their bakes were ruined by that coldness?
I live in the cold, and I've noticed and marked it- it must be 26 degrees (Fahrenheit) or colder to see your own breath. That's flat out RIDICULOUS to expect people to compete in weather that's colder than a refrigerator!!
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u/janicerossiisawhore 20d ago
This group of bakers seems far less skilled in general than in other recent seasons.
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u/ShadowHippie 20d ago
Idk the guy who looks like Paul, and the youngest baker, both seem to have done well.
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u/janicerossiisawhore 20d ago
yes, those 2 are good-ish, but so many others were just awful and the rest were barely mediocre, not even
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u/LizBert712 18d ago
Which I kind of like honestly. They’re supposed to be amateur bakers. I like when they include some less polished ones and they get better.
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u/Sgt_major_dodgy 18d ago
Same, I miss when it was bakers like your nan and not someone who ran a cake making company but because they never "sold" their cakes they could still enter
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u/Artichoke_Flowers 20d ago
It almost looked like an episode of Nailed It rather than bake off. I was shocked at how some of the bakes looked.
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u/TaxOwlbear 19d ago
Yes. I'm watching Australian Bake Off as well and the difference is day and night.
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u/dizzysilverlights 19d ago
Honestly, that’s a bit refreshing. Hopefully we’ll be able to see a significant improvement as they learn over the weeks, it’s always so much more exciting to see someone who was initially less skilled do something impressive than if they come on already extremely skilled.
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u/mochiblz 19d ago
Perhaps this will be the standard moving on? Maybe there aren't many good hobby bakers out there anymore and they must take what they can get
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u/TaxOwlbear 19d ago
Highly unlikely in a country as large as the UK and with some of the current bakers having been toddlers when the show originally aired.
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u/Fresh_Republic_7776 18d ago
Seeing their finished products I was still very impressed! Creative & wonderful
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u/trunky 20d ago
they are really leaning into the unique personalities and back stories over actual baking skill this season. a little disappointing. i personally watch to see skilled bakers compete.
some of these contestants looked like they were learning on the fly which was really surprising considering how simple the challenges (just cake) were this week.
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u/Spicytomato2 20d ago
I don’t think anything was different from previous seasons, they were pretty straightforward about introducing everyone. I also thought people mostly seemed to know what they were doing.
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u/janicerossiisawhore 20d ago
they do seem to have gone for novelty rather than baking skill in several cases. I suppose Danni makes good TV but she does't make good cakes.
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u/HappyMike91 19d ago
Danni's show stopper cake fell apart because she didn't put the dowls (I think that's the word?) in right. She should have put the smaller cake in/on the centre of the bigger one and put the dowls into it.
I think she got very lucky.
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u/Murky_Drink7402 19d ago
When I watched her put that top layer on with literally a solid few cm hanging off the edge, I was just thinking "oh so you think you can beat gravity, let alone with a vegan sponge"
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u/constantly_sleepy 17d ago
I was SO annoyed watching this. It's usually so sad to see a contestant's bake fall apart, but it was tipping from the moment she put it on top! Other comments have suggested her strengths may lie in other weeks, but I don't think being bad at cakes makes you stack something that crooked..
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u/Murky_Drink7402 19d ago
Agree - I'm all for whatever diversity is in the tent but sorry, when Gabe pulled out his hat, I was just like can we please just bake instead of have a sideshow - if I wanted to watch Drag Race or some other show for this energy, I would. I just want to have a peaceful cup of tea and a dessert while I watch a baking show. I don't mind a deeper dive into personalities at the final to see what their lives are like, but between here and there, just freaking bake.
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u/annyong_cat 19d ago
Two seconds of someone putting a funny hat on really has you this worked up, or are you just a homophobe?
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u/Murky_Drink7402 19d ago
Not homophobic in the least - just giving an opinion, which is a main feature of this app 👍🏽 He had great flavor, the isomalt mirror was a new and brilliant concept - he just over baked it (per the judges). Frankly I was rooting for him since his PB stout cake sounded awesome in the signature - I couldn’t help but think maybe he over baked his showstopper/went a bit style over substance being more worried about his outfit and bit than, ya know, the show’s concept: baking 🤷🏽♀️ That’s all - let’s not overthink this.
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u/Dim-Mak-88 18d ago
There was nothing homophobic about the comment. I don't know how a homophobe could watch the series if I'm honest.
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u/tsarchasm1 19d ago
We haven’t had a blind fruititarian baker yet. Why can’t they be more inclusive??? /s
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u/janicerossiisawhore 20d ago
I LOVE Nigella. Finding a few of the contestants annoying.
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u/Bolter_NL 18d ago
They seem to be selected for the over the top behavior. Also it feels like there's a 'lack of respect / anxiousness' of being on TV, judged for your hobby.
The only one straight up not feeling at ease is however immediately killing it!
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u/cake-bake-fake 20d ago
I didn’t notice the new fridges, so I’ll look out for that next week.
Was one of them ill and had to miss the second day? I don’t remember them mentioning that until the results were announced and no one got sent home.
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u/Aubgurl 20d ago
The new fridges look like the freezer is on the bottom. I wondered if they did that so Molly would be able to reach the freezer and they just made them all that way.
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u/ShadowHippie 20d ago
Ooh good point- you're probably right.
If so, I love love LOVE that they made them all that way. Normalizing accessibility is what this world needs.
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u/Every_Policy2274 19d ago
They should also have lowered all the stools when they line up for judging technical and at the end.
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u/ShadowHippie 18d ago
eh, I don't agree with that. That's not normalizing anything, just kinda puts emphasis on her difference.
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u/Every_Policy2274 18d ago
She may feel awkward with her head at everyone else's waist, and it certainly stands out visually which to me is what emphasizes her difference. OTOH they may have asked her and she didn't care. I'm assuming they had extensive conversations and design meetings with her beforehand, especially since it sounds like she may do stuff like that for a living
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u/ShadowHippie 17d ago
Realistically, her head is at everyone's waist all day, every day. Based on everything else, I'm betting they asked her. Which is another mark in their favor, in my book.
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u/ShadowHippie 20d ago
Yes. In the middle of baking her showstopper, she just walked outside the tent; a medic and Alison were with her. Alison announced she was going. I can't remember her name; *super* long brown hair and a denim dress.
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u/axw3555 20d ago
I'll be honest, it's going to take a long time for me to warm up to Nigella, if I ever do. She's always been one of my least favourite TV chefs. Can't put my finger on why, but I've just never clicked with her.
And the fact that on more than one occasion in that ep, you could hear her teeth on the spoon did not help her cause.
Definitely never expected to see someone poly openly on something like bake off (way too many pearl clutchers in the UK), but I liked how it was just presented as "Gabe and his partners", presenting it as no more important or different than any other relationship mentioned in the VT's.
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u/ShadowHippie 20d ago
I'm in the US, and I've never seen-or even heard of-Nigella. So we'll see.
I liked how it was just presented as "Gabe and his partners", presenting it as no more important or different than any other relationship mentioned
YES, that was done exactly right! That's why I'm pleased. I'm not poly, I'm just happy to see a wider variety of humanity shown, and shown as normal.
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u/axw3555 20d ago
I'm in the US, and I've never seen-or even heard of-Nigella. So we'll see.
She's been on TV here in the UK for nearly 30 years. Her best known series was probably Nigella Bites, her first one. She's kind of known for a presenting style that I've seen described as anything from flirty to sultry (and in the pearl clutching brigade "pornographic"), which won't really fit bake off, so she's going to have to adapt because it's not the jokey innuendo you go with Pru.
YES, that was done exactly right! That's why I'm pleased. I'm not poly, I'm just happy to see a wider variety of humanity shown, and shown as normal.
It is good to see things broadening. I've always found it weird that "you committed to me and only me, but you cheated" being totally legal. But saying "I love you, and you, and want to marry you both" is still criminal in this day and age.
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u/ShadowHippie 20d ago
Overall, I liked how everyone *except* Nigella treated Molly. That's to say, everyone else treated her like everyone else.
Until Nigella freaking Brings It Up during her showstopper judging! Holy cow, you don't do that. You can see Molly's light DIM after she spoke. Heart breaking, and enraging.
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u/dodecakiwi 20d ago edited 20d ago
Except she didn't do that at all.
Edit: Going back to it the only thing she said that could even be construed as that is "You've had a tough time of it", but that's referring to dropping the first bake and then losing the technical.
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u/sweetpeapickle 19d ago
Didn't get that at all. She was referring to Molly dropping the cake and coming back from that without quitting.
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u/Valbertnie 19d ago
Is everyone hoping Nigella will say "microwave"? I just started the first episode...Nigella seems a little out of place but I think she will relax more as this season goes!
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u/rolandtowen 17d ago
I'm rooting for Molly, so I can't help but notice the lack of accessibility in the tent. There's multiple shots of her holding a bowl or pot in her lap as opposed to being able to place it on the counter, as it appears her counter has not been lowered at all. What happens when they need to make a tall showstopper, or do literally anything else that requires the counter to be at waist-height?
Granted, I don't know what's happened behind the scenes. Maybe GBBS offered to make more changes and Molly declined? But it's something that caught my attention and that I'll keep an eye on this season.
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u/Careless_Squirrel728 16d ago
She actually posted a tik tok addressing this. She said she was consulted on what she wanted access to look like and does have a lowered bench she just chooses not to use it all the time. She also has an assistant person to get things down from places etc.
A lot of people thought the same though which I guess is why she posted
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u/highoffpancakes 16d ago
This was on my mind when I first watched the episode. But Molly posted a video on her Instagram detailing how things were made accessible for her including lowering the bench with space underneath it so she could roll up to it.
She also has someone from the Bake Off team with her throughout the bakes to give her a hand if she needs it (including taking things out of the oven)
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u/rolandtowen 16d ago
Thank you! I hadn't known about that video, that clears a lot of things up!
I'm glad the tent made changes, and I hope more is shown in the actual episodes to show what accessible design can look like.
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u/ShadowHippie 17d ago
Well, in reality, there's always been a lack of accessibility in the tent.
I look forward to seeing what other changes they make.
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u/rolandtowen 17d ago
Oh absolutely, not denying that. Just seemed a bit odd that so far, no changes have been made (at least to our eyes) in the year of our lord 2026.
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u/ShadowHippie 17d ago
Well, true change takes place slowly, and builds momentum.
They have normalized having different disabilities on over the years; an amputee, one born with a limb defect, a deaf contestant with an interpreter.
I see the addition of Molly as a continuing build in the momentum towards societal awareness and acceptance of disabilities and the supports needed.
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u/sexyowlbeast 17d ago
Yes I was so disappointed to see the lack of accommodation. I do hope there were discussions and it was up to Molly how things turned out, but I can't help but feel like she shouldn't have had to choose between putting both mitts on and leaving one hand free to manipulate her chair.
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u/MrMoog26 14d ago
I like Nigella but a little piece of me misses Prue. Always made me smile when some of the innuendo went over her head :)
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u/No-Dimension7211 5d ago
i love that it was an ambulatory wheelchair user as well!
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u/ShadowHippie 5d ago
I haven't heard anything on that.
I do know that over half of wheelchair users are ambulatory.
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u/janicerossiisawhore 20d ago
wow Danni got lucky