17 Behind-The-Scenes Facts And Secrets About “The Great British Baking Show”
On your marks, get set...hand over your phones?
1. The show's name is different in the US because "Bake Off" is copyrighted by Pillsbury.
The food company, famous for its delicious crescent rolls and adorable Doughboy mascot, has been hosting the Pillsbury Bake Off since 1949.
3. The chief "home economist" spends weeks sourcing the hundreds of ingredients that contestants will need.
Faenia Moore told the Los Angeles Times that she spends the two months prior to filming sorting through all of the contestants' recipes. Then she has to track down all of the ingredients or equipment that each one calls for.
4. While the crew eats a lot of the leftover cake, the remaining ingredients are sent off to a local food bank.
Moore also told the Los Angeles Times that someone in the production company helped set up a deal with a local food bank in 2019.
5. The contestants are required to write and submit original recipes before filming.
They aren't allowed to use recipes they've found online or in cookbooks.
6. Since a dishwasher would be too noisy, all of the dishes are done by hand.
Home economist Iva Vcelak, along with a few of the runners, is responsible for all of the cleanup.
7. During the 2020 season, the crew set up practice kitchens for the contestants to work in when they weren't filming.
During a typical season, contestants spend the week practicing at home, then travel to film on the weekends. However, because of the UK's lockdown restrictions, this season was filmed in a quarantine bubble, so an extra tent was set up for the contestants to practice their bakes in.
8. For his audition, cohost Matt Lucas had to interview people about the horticultural accessories they were buying in a gardening center.
He told NPR that when the people he interviewed found out he wasn't actually interested in gardening, they said that his career must've "really come down."
12. Candidates for the show have to bring two of their best bakes to their in-person interview.
According to a former contestant, the producers advise applicants to bring one sweet treat and one savory dish.
13. The final round of the application process is an on-camera technical challenge.
Before they can become official contestants on the show, candidates must compete in a mock technical round. This step is just as much a screen test as it is a test of their baking abilities.
14. Contestants must hand over their phones before the start of filming each day.
They don't get them back until they're on the "bakers bus" back to the hotel for the evening. This is to prevent anyone from taking pictures or videos on set.
15. The show's food illustrator says that his dislike of baked goods actually makes his job easier.
17. And finally, during their downtime, the contestants play games and sing karaoke in the green room.
Former contestant Val Stones told the Atlantic that when they started to run out of ideas for games, she brought her shopping list from 1972 and had her fellow contestants guess how much things cost then.