There Will Probably Never Be A GBBO All Stars, According To Prue Leith
"The Great British Bake Off," besides being a cultural juggernaut and sending many an idle home baker back into the kitchen, launches the careers of runners-up and winners alike. Many have found astounding success after their seasons come to an end. Season 6 winner Nadiya Hussain is the best-known and the most successful GBBO winner, with several cookbooks and television shows under her belt, including the current "Nadiya's Everyday Baking" (via Nadiya). She was also selected to bake Queen Elizabeth II's 90th birthday cake (via BBC Good Food) and awarded an MBE for her services to broadcasting and the culinary arts (via Evening Standard). Season 4 runner-up Ruby Tandoh has released several cookbooks, the most recent being "Cook As You Are: Recipes for Real Life, Hungry Cooks and Messy Kitchens" (via Ruby Tandoh).
Season 12 winner Giuseppe Dell'Anno has just released his cookbook featuring Italian bakes, written while commuting between his job in his native Italy and his family in England (via Instagram). Fellow Season 12 alum Crystelle Pereira wrote a cookbook you can preorder called "Flavour Kitchen." It's full of cooking and baking recipes, both sweet and savory, per Instagram. And, 2017 winner Sophie Faldo has her own business where she bakes luxury couture cakes. With all of these successful bakers and fan favorites, you would be forgiven for wondering why there hasn't been an All-Stars Bake Off yet.
Risking budding careers and book deals wouldn't be worth a GBBO All-Stars
All of this success and boosts to their careers gives past winners and runners-up the best excuse not to appear on an All-Stars Bake Off, according to judge Prue Leith. When speaking alongside fellow judge Paul Hollywood with E! News to promote "The Great American Baking Show Celebrity Holiday Special," Leith explained, "If you've already won Bake Off, your life changes. You become either a very well-known baker, or you find yourself with a bakery business, or you're on television as a presenter, or you are writing a new cookbook, and you have a reputation you don't want to damage." And we totally get that. Who would want to ruin their budding careers or damage their reputation by splitting a buttercream or baking a dense Victoria sponge, risking both the ire of Paul Hollywood and fewer book deals?
That's not to say that bakers will never return to the tent. Some fan favorites have returned to the tent for the show's Christmas specials. "The Great Christmas Bake Off" has seen previous bakers like Chetna Makan from Season 5, Season 9's Briony May Williams, and previous winner Candice Brown return for some festive bakes (via TheTVDB).
The one special Hollywood does want to see, though? "International Bake Off! Let's have the Brits against the Americans."