Overview

• Series 16 premiered on Channel 4 at 8pm with Paul Hollywood, Dame Prue Leith, Alison Hammond and Noel Fielding welcoming 12 new amateur bakers.
• Paul Hollywood called this an exceptional year with phenomenal standards, as resurfaced 2023 remarks also showed him describing fame as a struggle and valuing anonymity on his motorbikes.
• Dame Prue Leith reiterated that early starts make filming tough and has signaled she may step down sometime soon, saying she wants to leave before being asked to.
• Contestant Jessika publicly apologized for keeping what she called her hardest secret and was introduced in coverage as a drag king performer away from the tent.
• Viewers reacted strongly to a Jurassic Park–style opening sketch, with some social media posts joking about contacting Ofcom over the segment.