The Great British Bake Off is back on Channel 4 with hosts Alison Hammond and Noel Fielding returning for the 15th season. Judges Prue Leith and Paul Hollywood will once again be watching over the new bakers during cake week.
This week, the hopefuls must elevate a loaf cake to impressive heights before baffling the judges by creating a hyper-realistic illusion cake. While the show is full of hilarious fails and shocking reveals, there is plenty viewers do not see.
While the bakers still lead their own lives in between filming, they do spend their whole weekends in the tent. Former contestants have recalled long days filming each episode, which can last between 10 and 16 hours.
Season nine’s Antony Amourdoux told Insider: “You start early in the morning and it ends a little after six or seven in the evening. Normally they shoot on the weekends because some contestants work – like I was working.
“So Saturday will be the whole day and Sunday will be early in the morning to around midday.” All of this filming is then squeezed into one episode, which is why the bakers need to wear the same clothes all weekend.
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This also means a lot of the footage ends up on the cutting room floor, with up to 16 hours of filming reduced down to an hour-long episode.
According to Rayo, the contestants are picked up from their hotels at 9am each Saturday and Sunday morning to ensure there is plenty of time for filming.
The show is usually filmed over a 10-week period between April and June, with the bakers able to keep at their normal jobs during the week.
(Image: PA)
This year’s bakers are Andy, a 44-year-old mechanic from Essex, Christian, a 33-year-old menswear designer from London, Dylan, a 20-year-old retail worker from Buckinghamshire and Georgie, a 34-year-old paediatric nurse from Carmarthenshire.
They are joined by Gill, a 53-year-old manager from Lancashire, Hazel, a 71-year-old former nail technician from Kent, Illiyin, a 31-year-old birth trauma specialist midwife from Norfolk, Jeff, a 67-year-old former university lecturer from West Yorkshire, and John, a 37-year-old directorate support manager from the West Midlands.
There is also Mike, a 29-year-old farm manager from Wiltshire, Nelly, a 44-year-old palliative care assistant from Dorset, and Sumayah, a 19-year-old dentistry student from Lancashire.
The Great British Bake Off starts on Channel 4 on September 24 at 8pm
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