This time last week, Love Productions announced that the BBC had lost the rights to air The Great British Bake Off. Auntie wasn’t prepared to front the cash required for a format that has not only proved ridiculously popular the world over but has literally changed the way that we shop, spend our leisure time, even how we build our houses – it’s all about the kitchen space now.
Fair enough, I say. The format is brilliant. Take the money and run.
It was then announced that the show had been bought by Channel 4. Then sh*t got weird…
Twitter and social media went into complete meltdown. Fans of the show were fearful that the show would be ruined by adverts and sponsorship.
Did you notice the season when the Kenwood K Mixes were replaced with Kitchen Aid Artisans? I know you did and I remember you all cooing at the machines.
Baking lends itself to sponsorship and product placement in a very natural way. We all want to know which is the best mixer to invest our hard-earned money in and which brand of flour produces the lightest sponge. Fine. We are all going to watch the show on catch-up services and forward through the adverts anyway.
Then the show’s presenters, Mel and Sue, announced that they would not be moving to Channel 4 with the show. Cue another Twitter melt down. Mel and Sue are being lauded as heroes for not “going with the dough” to Channel 4 but I cannot help but think that maybe (just maybe) Mel and Sue have fronted the same show for 7 seasons and might like to try something else?
I dare say that Mel and Sue are both looking forward to a well-deserved break from long days in a marquee in the rain! I look forward to seeing what they do next. They tickle my funny bones.
To read my Twitter feed last week, you would have thought someone had died. I love the Bake Off but IT’S A TV SHOW! I’ve even seen ‘Breadxit’ mentioned in the same sentence as the death of David Bowie (that was a sure fire way to piss me off) and Brexit. Let’s all pour a cup of tea, calm ourselves and rejoice that no one has died and even if GBBO should end tomorrow, it is unlikely to trigger a recession.
So much as I love the show and love you all, let’s all remember that it wasn’t so long ago that we all watched Noel’s House Party in our millions.
Change is scary but it’s exciting too. Channel 4 may make changes and, yes, you’ll hate them at first but it could be brilliant. You’ll still watch. You know you will. It will still be the Bake Off. Personally, I think that we now have the perfect opportunity to get Ru Paul over from the US to host the show.
Ru Paul’s Bake Off
Start your ovens
Ru Paul’s Bake Off
May the best iced buns win
So for all fans of the Bake Off, I would love to bake a cake for you. Come on over. Let’s have a cuppa and a slice and a good old bitch about all of this.
Stay gorgeous!
Cxx
