The Great British Bake Off has returned, ready to entertain us with all its wholesome bakes, loveable personalities, suspenseful scenes, and cringeworthy puns. A nation favourite, GBBO shows no sign of slowing down.
And yet, a recent survey carried out by Betfair has revealed that Noel Fielding and Matt Lucas are not the preferred set of ‘dream’ hosts. Instead, Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders emerged on top, with almost one in five nominating them as the ideal pair. Ant and Dec closely followed at 12%, and just behind were This Morning’s Friday hosts Alison Hammon and Dermot O’Leary.
Is change in the air? The last time such a thing happened was when the show moved from the BBC to Channel 4, due to complicated price negotiations. This move saw the departure of co-hosts Sue Perkins and Mel Giedroyc, making way for Fielding and eventually Lucas.
The show transferring to Channel 4 was a controversial one, but overtime this aspect has diminished and people have grown fond of Fielding and Lucas’ presence.
Still, this survey highlights that a certain amount of the public is still not sold on the choice of hosts and instead are keen to see other British fan-favourites making light of those tense baking moments and scenes.
On a more positive note, the survey also allowed people to vote for their favourite moments from across the 13 seasons. Nadiya Hussain, who has found immense commercial success following her win in 2015, was voted as favourite baker. She won by an impressive 23% of the vote. Candice Brown from season seven and Rahul Mandal from season nine followed suit, with 5.4% and 5.2%.
The public’s decision for greatest moment of Celebrity Bake Off was of course Joe Sugg fainting after slicing open his finger. This moment has imprinted itself on the internet, consistently reappearing on social media and ultimately, making people smile, which is what GBBO sets out to do.
Want to read more about this year’s Great British Bake Off and make up your own mind about the hosting? We’ve collated everything you need to know about GBBO this year, as well as a recap of the previous episodes. If reading about baking has made you peckish, why not explore our list of recipes?
Header image credit: The Great British Bake off