The One Rule Great British Baking Show Contestants Can't Stand
Folks, your favorite cartoon characters are not the only ones on TV who wear the same outfit every day (see: Bart Simpson, Daria, Doug). Word on the street is, your favorite mild-mannered Brits do, too. At least for a few days at a time. Stars of The Great British Baking Show told Metro and fans on Instagram about one of the classic pitfalls of participation in everyone's favorite low-drama baking reality show: clothing continuity.
Apparently, contestants complete each episode over the course of two days, but outfits have to stay the same (via Digital Spy). Contestant Laura Adlington said, "It was a right pain in the a** having to wash, dry and iron your outfit after a long day of filming." On a TV show that hinges upon one of the most stain-worthy activities of all time, puffs of flour and splashes of batter didn't help with the same-outfit-for-two-days rule. Selasi Gbormittah, another former contestant, said he spent his evenings washing his shirts with hotel bar-soap and drying them on the radiator. "I was a savvy baker and didn't splash out on two of the same item of clothing," Gbormittah said.
Behind the scenes of The Great British Baking Show
What you also may not have known about GBBO: Production staff all had to isolate themselves together. That's right — in order to film the latest season, which premiered on September 22, the 120 people who work on the show had to live in a "self-contained biosphere" for six weeks and followed a difficult two days on, two days off shooting schedule (via Radio Times). The shows' directors pulled together a plan for everyone to stay in a hotel, and anyone entering would have to self-isolate for nine days ahead of time and take three COVID-19 tests. Love Productions creative director Kieran Smith told the Guardian, "The whole point of the bubble [was] being able to be close to each other or pat people on the back, or it wouldn't be Bake Off."
According to Insider and the Guardian, there's also a three-person "home economics" team that handles everything from the food to the equipment. Bakers can specify what kind of brands they'd like to work with and it's up to the team to "de-brand it" (and you have to wonder what that entails). They test the ovens before each episode, whipping up a dozen Victoria sponge recipes and making sure they all come out the same. Considering the immense amount of planning and work that goes into GBBO, it's no wonder contestants had to pitch in a little by putting their outfits on double duty.