Former favourites from The Great British Bake Off will return to the show’s tent for the first of two festive specials.
Among those hoping to win The Great Christmas Bake Off are two beloved bakers from the seventh series in 2016, the laid-back Selasi Gbormittah and Val Stones, who dances while she bakes.
Gbormittah and Stones will be joined by previous contestants Paul Jagger, whose name is iced onto Bake Off history for his impressive lion bread in series six, and series four baker and macaron queen Beca Lyne-Pirkis.
The foursome must impress judges Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith with their festive bakes, including yule logs for the signature challenge and an eye-wateringly tricky showstopper round involving sugar snowglobes.
Presenters Sandi Toksvig and Noel Fielding are also back in the tent, doling out the festive puns and innuendos.
Airing on Christmas Day, it is the first Bake Off Christmas special to air on Channel 4 following the baking programme’s move from BBC One.
Last year’s Christmas Bake Off episodes, which saw former contestants Chetna Makan and Mary-Anne Boermans named the winners, were the last ever to air on BBC One with the original line-up of judges Mary Berry and Hollywood, and presenters Sue Perkins and Mel Giedroyc.
The final of this year’s The Great British Bake Off was watched by one of the biggest audiences in Channel 4’s 35-year history, although the numbers did not quite manage to reach the heights of the ratings when the show was on BBC One.
Consolidated ratings for Bake Off’s October 31 final, which saw Sophie Faldo crowned the winner, were a massive 10 million.
However, the finale of the last series on BBC One, won by Candice Brown, attracted an overall audience of 15.9 million.
Channel 4 will broadcast a second festive Bake Off special on New Year’s Day, with former contestants Benjamina Ebuehi, Rav Bansal, Rob Billington and Sandy Docherty returning to the tent.
The Great Christmas Bake Off airs on Christmas Day at 7.40pm on Channel 4.
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