Fans Of 'Great British Bake Off' Are Over How The Show Is Being Run

It’s no secret that The Great British Bake Off’s once-spotless reputation has begun to fall like a collapsed soufflé in recent years. While still maintaining a loyal viewership, GBBO’s most recent season left some fans with valid complaints.

Overly difficult (or flat out strange) challenges initially raised some eyebrows, but once the season’s extremely insensitive “Mexican Week” episode aired, many fans drew a line in the sand. Producers have voiced their willingness to make necessary tweaks, and with Season 14 looming, many might be wondering: What are the main ingredients that will make up GBBO’s recipe for redemption?

In the U.K., the latest season was the lowest-rated in series history since the show moved to Channel 4 in 2017, as Metro reports. But GBBO’s track record of reeling in giddy viewers means that the clock hasn’t run out just yet on pulling off their latest challenge. Though there’s no telling what, exactly, might win viewers back, taking a peek at fans’ complaints on social media might offer some helpful hints.

Honoring Country’s Cuisines and Cultures

If there’s one learning moment that GBBO should take from Season 13, it’s that being more respectful and diligent about featuring different culture’s cuisines is absolutely crucial. In GBBO’s “Mexican Week” episode, the hosts were using racially insensitive humor, with judges Noel Fielding and Matt Lucas wearing sombreros and serapes while making hacky stereotypical jokes.

On top of this, fans were also upset with the clear lack of research dedicated to Mexican cuisine. Judges mispronounced many dishes, like “tacos” and “pico de gallo.” Plus, the technical challenge was to make a taco, which many fans said not only ignored the second “B” in GBBO, but also the many great Mexican desserts and pastries one could bake. (And let’s not get into the viral avocado peel.)

This isn’t the first time GBBO has mishandled culturally-themed weeks, as many fans called out their conflation of Asian cuisines during “Japanese Week.”

Make the Technicals Less…Technical

The technical challenge is meant to let the bakers show off their expertise by prompting them to create a basic baking recipe with very little instruction. And, well, fans seem to believe that many technicals that are just too…technical.

Take, for instance, Paul Hollywood’s s’mores technical which—while seemingly simple—prompted bakers to create something that looked nothing like a s’more. The Season 13 finale’s technical got viewers especially fired up, as bakers were asked to use vegetable gelatin, an ingredient most have likely never worked with.

Of course, there was also the time when Prue Leith asked contestants to create lemon meringue pie with the sole instruction being to make a lemon meringue pie.

And don’t get us started on the time contestants were required to make spring rolls. Which brings us to our next complaint…

Make The Challenges Baking Recipes

For a baking show, you’d think this would be a no brainer. But many challenges on GBBO have required contestants to create something that doesn’t require baking at all.

If fans’ outcry against the no-bake nature of “Custard Week” and the taco challenge during “Mexican Week" gave producers any warning, they should stick to baking recipes.

Of course, just like a critique from Paul Hollywood means that he believes in your ability, complaints from GBBO fans mean that they believe—and want—the series to improve so that they continue to enjoy it. Fingers crossed that Season 14 is sweeter than ever.

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