Overview
- Channel 4 confirms Series 16 premieres Tuesday, Sept. 2 at 8 p.m., with judges Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith and hosts Alison Hammond and Noel Fielding returning.
- The new run highlights the show’s 150th episode and introduces 12 contestants, with casting notes including a drag king performer and two hairdressers.
- Leith says she loves the role yet wants to “go before I’m pushed,” adding that the job is “such a piece of cake” because she “walk[s] on, eat[s] cake, walk[s] off and get[s] paid.”
- She has stepped back from the Celebrity Bake Off specials but remains a permanent judge on the main series.
- Hollywood frames the franchise as an enduring TV institution, saying “There should be a Bake Off forever now,” even as lineups change over time.