The Great British Bake Off 2018: everything you need to know

On your marks, get set... it’s almost time for The Great British Bake Off to return for a new series.

After a successful move from BBC One to Channel 4 last year, the popular baking show is back for a ninth series, with plenty of familiar faces expected.

Here’s everything you need to know about GBBO 2018.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

When is it back on?

The new series begins at 8pm on Tuesday 28 August.

Channel 4 has released a trailer, “continuing [last year’s] theme of slightly unnerving singing baked goods”, says the Radio Times.

Who are the judges and presenters?

Prue Leith and Paul Hollywood will be reprising their roles as the show’s two expert judges, while Noel Fielding and Sandi Toksvig return as hosts. Judge Mary Berry and presenters Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins left when the series moved channels.

Fielding told The Guardian that he was feeling more relaxed in his second year of presenting: “Last year we were under an enormous amount of pressure to not ruin this sacred show that everyone loved, so we weren't as worried about the bakers, we were just trying to make sure we didn't destroy our own careers.”

Radio Times says there “hasn’t been official word as to whether Jo Brand will be back with the Channel 4 companion show”, An Extra Slice, but adds that it “looks like we can expect the spin-off to return along with GBBO”.

Who are the contestants?

The contestants are yet to be revealed, but Fielding has described them as “a nice bunch of bakers”.

Last year, the line-up was announced a week before the show kicked off, so their identities may well be revealed tomorrow.

What can we expect this year?

Hollywood has hinted that the baking will go “back to basics” because the show was “getting a bit over-complicated”.

He told The Guardian: “Sometimes it's not just about the bakers in the tent, it's about the people in the UK who watch the programme. We want to encourage the viewers to bake.”

Meanwhile, Leith has revealed that viewers can expect a few tears.

The judge said: “When you get the Hollywood stare, you never know what he's going to say, whether it's ‘it’s terrible’ or whether he’s going to put his hand out and give them a handshake.

“Recently, one of the contestants was really crying, because everything had gone wrong and it was terrible. And Paul said the flavour was fantastic, it was a really imaginative thing, well done. Then he said: ‘But it was s***e’.”