The Great British Baking Show gives its contestants creative freedom when it comes to their confections, but there is more to the competition behind the scenes.
Since its debut in 2010, the Netflix series, also known as Channel 4’s The Great British Bake Off in the U.K., has become a global fan favorite. Thousands of hopefuls apply each year, but only 12 are chosen to compete in the 10-week contest.
The premise: a dozen amateur British bakers face weekly challenges, with one eliminated each round until a champion is crowned. However, oven temperatures and measurements aren’t the only details competitors have to keep in mind as they work under pressure to impress the judges and be crowned the U.K.’s Best Amateur Baker.
From rewearing clothes to what happens to pastries, here are fascinating behind-the-scene observations from The Great British Baking Show contestants. Plus, tidbits from the team behind the beloved longtime series, Love Productions.
Phones aren’t allowed in the tent
Contestants are asked to give their phones over before ending the tent where the competition takes place, season 9 contestant Karen Wright told Express in October 2019.
“Every morning, you had to hand it in and you got it back when you got on the bakers bus back to the hotel,” she explained about the phone policy.
Contestants stay in the same hotel as the other bakers
While they can return home during the week, contestants must stay at a nearby hotel to film on weekends. When it’s time for production to pick up again, the cast members take a minibus to the tents together, 2013 champion Frances Quinn told Cosmopolitan UK in September 2019.
“You’d think it was fun, but it’s actually all quite stressful. It was like going toward an exam, and then on the way back, some people had done really well in the exam and some people hadn’t done so well and it was the next day when you know someone is going home,” she said.
Contestants don’t socialize with the judges
In an effort to keep things unbiased, judges keep their distance from the bakers. During the show, they sit in separate areas from the contestants and are placed at a different hotel on the weekends.
Speaking to Cosmopolitan UK, Quinn explained that while a few judges like to interact with cast members during the baking process, others try their best to be fair and limit conversations while the cameras are rolling.
“We saw a lot more of Mel and Sue. Mary and Paul would purely come in to do what we called the royal tour — where they’d come in and find out what you were making, and then they’d come back in for judging,” she said.
Contestants wear the same clothes for continuity
Although episodes are filmed over a two-day period, bakers must wear the same clothes for continuity, according to Love Productions. By doing so, viewers can focus on the creations instead of sudden outfit changes.
That said, contestants get a slight refresh in the middle. “Luckily they change the aprons so we don’t look like a Jackson Pollock painting by the end of it,” Quinn joked to Cosmopolitan UK.
Fellow season 9 contestant Antony Amourdoux told Business Insider in September 2022 that this rule applies to presenters, too.
“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,” he said. “But if you’re a baker, you are sweating in those clothes and you’re proper stinky.”
The Technical Challenge is kept a secret
According to Love Productions, contestants are told about the Signature and Showstopper challenges. This way, they can practice their recipes and perfect the dishes before going in front of the camera.
Prior to filming, contestants are required to create 10 signature and showstopper bake recipes in preparation for potentially making it to the final round.
“We get four weeks to come up with the recipes for the challenges, which didn’t seem like a lot of time at all,” 2014 finalist Chetna Makan told Digital Spy. “Four weeks to come up with nine weeks’ recipes, so 18 recipes.”
As viewers may know, the Technical Challenge is kept under wraps until the day of. Since it’s a blind challenge, the details are revealed to everyone at the same time, and a gingham cloth indicates what’s about to be discussed.
The Bake Off team washes every dish by hand
Home economists, who are on hand to ensure every baker has their needs met from ingredients to set up, are responsible for the cleanup, with help from a few others.
Love Production tells PEOPLE that the Bake Off team cleans down workstations and washes dishes by hand, the latter of which details have been shared before.
“We have a good system with two sinks. A dishwasher would be too noisy, and probably take longer. Also, if you’ve got caramel, you’ve got to use plenty of elbow grease,” chief home economist Faenia Moore told the BBC.
In addition, the Bake Off team keeps appliances in tip-top shape by conducting tests. For example, they bake a Victoria Sponge cake in each oven.
The production team covers ingredient costs
While contestants bring in their audition and preparation materials, production buys everything once filming begins. Competitors have until the beginning of each round to request ingredients.
“Sometimes they’ll be awake in the middle of the night and they’ll have decided that, oh, figs will be the thing that will make their bake,” Georgia May, a member of the production team, told The Guardian in July 2014.
Additionally, a runner is stationed at the nearest big supermarket on the day of filming in case contestants make any “last-minute amendments to their recipes,” Moore told the Radio Times in August 2014.
Baked items have are filmed every time they go in and out of the oven
If there’s an oven involved, a camera will be, too.
“They want a camera on you every time you’re going in the oven, looking in the oven, bringing something out of the oven,” Quinn told Cosmopolitan UK.
Season 4 contestant Ali Imdad echoed similar insight to Birmingham Live in November 2017, adding that it’s “the golden rule.”
“Every time you wanted to put something in or take something out, you had to hail a producer who would make sure you were being filmed,” he explained.
Pastries are shared at the end of tapings
Once judging is done and filming days conclude, the Bake Off team puts together a tray of the different baked goods so contestants can taste one another’s creations, per Love Productions.
“Then, in a very orderly fashion, of course, the crew dig in — they really love it when the bakers cook something savory as there is usually so much sugar around,” Moore elaborated to the Radio Times.
Imdad admitted to Birmingham Live that “the cameramen literally stand there with forks in their back pockets, waiting to swoop as soon as filming stops.”
“The cakes are meant to be taken to a lunch area where everyone can share them, but they don’t usually get that far because the crew eat them first,” he added.
They have to adjust to weather conditions
With all the baking happening in a tent, contestants must adapt to varying weather conditions — which can also make or break their creations.
“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 [celsius] outside,” Quinn told Cosmopolitan UK.
May also found weather to be an obstacle. “It’s always hot when we’re dealing with chocolate which needs cool weather,” she told The Guardian. “And cold when we’re trying to prove bread.”
No brand labels can be visible
Since the Netflix version is produced for broadcast on British public television (U.K. Public Services), it is legally barred from featuring any product placement.
In 2012, viewers noticed a prominent fridge logo, leading to a BBC review that found the show violated these regulations.
As a result, the production company had to implement stricter measures to ensure that the sourcing and use of equipment aligned with the rules and that a consistent approach would be followed going forward.
This also means that any visible brand labels must be removed from ingredients, and items must be transferred into glass jars, which can take the three-person team up to two days to complete, per The Guardian.