What The Cameras Don't Show You On Great British Bake Off

Overnight fame is as integral to "The Great British Bake Off, as flour, eggs, and soggy bottoms. Picking a favorite and rooting for them to survive the tribulations of bread week whilst under the taught white canopy of the "Bake Off" tent is part of what makes the show so enjoyable. Fortunately, the arduous audition process, which we'll cover later, ensures that the final 12 contestants are capable of coping with the sudden global attention, primarily through a meeting with the show's psychologist prior to filming.

Yet, for some, the spotlight does not fade with time. In fact, for these (un)lucky few, the glare only intensifies. Nadiya Hussain is one such contestant. Labeled the "nation's sweetheart" by Public, Hussain has given a masterclass in how to use a cooking show to permanently change your life. She had the best start possible, winning Season 6 in impressive fashion. After her victory, she wasted no time in returning to the television screen, hosting a two-part travelogue titled "The Chronicles of Nadiya" on BBC One. Now, with her sixth cookbook on the way, and a monthly column in The Times, Hussain has solidified her place amongst Britain's culinary superstars, even making a cake for the Queen's 90th birthday (via BBC). 

With an MBE for services to broadcasting and the culinary arts to her name, Hussain shows no sign of slowing down, and remains a near-permanent fixture on TV screens throughout Britain and beyond.

We wouldn't be human if we didn't occasionally imagine ourselves striding confidently into the "Bake Off" tent, maybe high-fiving host Noel Fielding on the way. But realizing this dream is not as simple as you may think.

As stated by Season 8 finalist Steven Carter-Bailey to Mashed, the application process consists of "constant questions, interviews, questions, interviews, credit checks, police checks, health checks, psychiatric checks, ability checks. You're constantly going down in front of cameras, [getting] checked for stress levels. "Even those who perform best under pressure, like Season 8 winner and Afghanistan veteran Sophie Faldo, concur. She told Vulture the audition process was "quite exhausting. It takes months."

As reported by Tellymix, the audition process for "The Great British Bake Off" 2022 involved a set of strict rules. For example, contestants could not make their living as a professional baker, chef, or cook and could not have acquired a cooking qualification within the 10 years prior to their application.

Even after meeting these requirements and completing a long application form, contestants still have a phone interview to look forward to before being invited to London for further interviews and a screen test. Applicants are obligated to bring some of their own bakes for this visit and to top this stressful experience off, all prospective contestants have to foot the bill for their audition level bakes!

The sight of Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith sitting around the table with a perfectly formed, impeccably baked technical challenge in front of them is the endearing image of "The Great British Bake Off." Despite viewers being led to believe otherwise, the judges do not take turns baking the masterpieces themselves. On the contrary, as reported by Surrey Live, the judges never bake the example themselves.

It all boils down to timing, with shooting days being so long and the judges' efforts required elsewhere it doesn't make sense to have them working in a kitchen for hours (despite how much we all want to see their skills). Ironically though, both judges and hosts have been known to find the time to watch TV together.

Instead, the baking is done by the show's home economics team, whose ability is readily apparent for all who watch the show; picture perfect bakes looking, as Prue would say, neat as a pin. Unfortunately, they also get stuck with more mundane tasks which include cooking Paul Hollywood's breakfast and reviewing all the contestants' planned signature and showstopper recipes. They also must source all the necessary ingredients and equipment. Faenia Moore, who has worked on "Bake Off" since its inception, told the LA Times she begins sourcing ingredients up to two months before the show starts, and admits blithely that when working on the show she has "a million lists."

When COVID-19 hit, whether "Bake Off" would be canceled or not was the least of most people's worries. However, when it was announced that the show would go ahead after the creation of a bubble system that saw all staff and contestants isolated together for six weeks at Down Hall Hotel Essex, the nation rejoiced. It was, as stated by The Independent, a much-needed "feel-good hour of cake and companionship." There was an opportunity for some sort of normality to reign, and many saw the cast and crew as heroes for putting up with the bubble to deliver a "Bake Off" similar to the one we all know and love.

However, the bubble was not all as mundane and self-sacrificial as one may initially have thought. Indeed, both presenters Noel Fielding and Matt Lucas hosted events (an indie festival and quiz night respectively), whilst all staff including Hollywood and Leith were, as reported by The Daily Mail, at the hotel bar often.

The scope of activities enjoyed, when coupled with the contestant's increased on-camera camaraderie noted by Hollywood to The Scotsman, would lead us to suggest that the crew, cast, and eventual show actually benefited from the lockdown strategy, as opposed to being hindered by it.

With The Media Leader calculating that the 2021 season finale drew an audience of over 7 million viewers it is not hard to see why the famed baking show has inspired the BBC to launch many other "rustic hobby" television programs. Most of these shows follow a similar format wherein several amateur enthusiasts battle through a range of challenges, with one person being eliminated each week, until a champion is crowned. However, despite sticking to a tried and tested formula, the broadcasting company's endeavors have been met with mixed results.

"The Great British Sewing Bee," which markets itself as "the ultimate sewing battle" has done reasonably well, receiving a boost of viewers in the shape of aspiring enthusiasts during the lockdown. Yet, the show has struggled to reach a wider audience due to the seeming less accessible challenges. As highlighted by The Guardian, it is one thing to bake a Victoria Sponge, and quite another to attempt to sew a whole outfit.

Unfortunately, another of the BBC's "Bake Off"- inspired gambits, fared much worse than "Sewing Bee." Another show, "The Great Pottery Throwdown," which sought to ignite a national passion for pottery making, really struggled to capture that "Bake Off" magic and was axed in 2018.

If you think that being a contestant on the show is difficult, then please spare a thought for the production team who have the herculean task of capturing the frantic action of 12 very stressed bakers. Even with multiple cameras in the tent and every contestant mic'd the production team is bound to miss a few things. But they have a few strategies in place to mitigate these losses and ensure that key moments are not the ones being missed. First and foremost amongst these is a rule that states all contestants must signal a camera to capture the moment a bake is put in the oven and the moment it's taken out. This is why you so often hear a contestant utter the famous line "I'm going in."

However, despite the crew's best efforts, not everything can be captured in real-time. Ex-contestant Ali Imdad revealed that when lines are fluffed by the judges, or minor actions like whisking are missed, the production team asks them to do it again. This type of tweaking is commonplace in nearly all cooking shows. For example, Mashed revealed that the food presented to judges in "MasterChef UK" is often served cold. However, like "MasterChef," "Bake Off" does not lose its reality TV status because, as stated by The SAGE Encyclopaedia of Communication Research Methods, the show remains unscripted.

From soggy bottoms to hot buns, innuendo has been a part of "Bake Off" since its inception. Not only is it a vital part of what makes the show work according to Martin Rowson of the Guardian, but also a reflection of British "banter" society as a whole. Paul Hollywood agrees, defending the myriad of jokes by stating that "[British] culture has always been based off it. Carry on films did it for 30 years ... it's in our DNA to giggle at ourselves." And giggle at themselves they certainly do, a recent comment made by Prue Leith left Hollywood in stitches, demonstrating that the newer members of the show are more than happy to uphold "GBBO's" racy tradition.

Yet, for some viewers, these jokes are far from funny, with a few suggesting that in recent seasons "GBBO" has become far too smutty. It is true that there were 15 official complaints related to Matt Lucas' recent euphemisms. However, this number pales in comparison to the amount received when fan favorite Jürgen was booted off the show in last year's semi-final, suggesting that for the majority of the public, it's the judging and not the joking, that gets the blood pressure rising.