The buns are back in town! The Great British Bake Off is here again to make us forget about our diets, obsess over pastels, and think about our soggy bottoms. Imagining there are still small pockets of humanity who haven’t seen GBBO before, here are some of the show’s deliciously rib-tickling quirks you should keep an eye out for:
1. Mary ‘Booze Queen’ Berry’s penchant for spirits will make you feel glad all over. Look out for the twinkle in her eye, and the spreading smile that comes with a bite of a boozy bake. Famously, she’ll make you question yourself every time you say the word ‘layers’ from now on too. She turns the word into a one syllable song as she extends those vowels to perfection. Utterly splendid in every way, even the mighty Snoop Dogg has expressed love for his “homegirl” Mary.
2. T
he special way Sue Perkins shouts “Bake!” has been an evolutionary process. Ear-splitting variations in pitch, bassy augmented vowel sounds – we’ve heard it all. But Guardian journalist Stuart Heritage, (who has seen episode one), promises her vocal style “has now grown so pronounced that she sounds as if she’s vomiting 13 Jägerbombs into a police station wastepaper basket”. We can only hope you’re not exaggerating Stuart. And less of that sour-faced sass about our Sue, thank you.
3. When Paul plays I’m-going-to-pretend-it’s-bad-but-then-let-you-know-it’s-good, the nation breathes a collective sigh of relief. We all know it’s coming, but do we really know? The little tyke keeps us on our toes year in, year out.
4. The villain. There’s always one. And on a show as wholesome as GBBO a little villainy goes a long way. After 2013’s Custardgate, you’d be forgiven for thinking the drama would fail to intensify. But this is Bake Off, and tempers will rise like soufflés! 2014 saw Bingate, where contestant Iain showed his dessert to the bin after fellow-contestant Diana took his ice cream out of the freezer. Calculated move, or honest mistake? We all have our own theory.
From a squirrel’s nuts to outstanding bakes, there’s always a surprise just waiting around the corner in The Great British Bake Off. We’d love to hear about your favourite GBBO moments, or your predictions for this series. Look out for our weekly blog posts and recipe suggestions on the UnCOVered blog and across our social media channels.
