Overview

• Channel 4 launched the new season on Tuesday at 8pm, introducing 12 amateur bakers to the tent for a 10‑week competition.
• Alison Hammond and Noel Fielding resumed hosting duties, with Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith returning to judge after speculation over Leith’s ongoing role.
• The premiere’s Cake Week set a patterned Swiss roll Signature, a fondant fancies Technical that required guessing ingredients, and a landscape cake Showstopper.
• Early tent drama included a baker forgetting to add flour during the Signature and another struggling to rescue a collapsing chocolate Showstopper, with the episode concluding in the first award and first exit of the season.
• A Jurassic Park–style cold open drew complaints from some viewers, a critic questioned the show’s freshness, and contestant Jessika posted about the difficulty of keeping her participation under wraps, referencing her drag king performances.