Why Two Great British Baking Show Contestants Missed This Week's Episode

Two bakers were absent from the Great British Baking Show tent for episode three: Rebs and Abdul both missed bread week.

"Both Rebs and Abdul are a bit under the weather this week, but with your permission, we thought we’d send them both straight through to the final," co-host Matt Lucas joked. Noel Fielding then added, "Only joking, they’re going to miss a week and hopefully they’ll be back next week."

Lucas and Fielding did not specify what illness kept both bakers from the tent. Instead of having 10 bakers compete, only 8 will face off. The smaller pool increases the remaining contestants' chances of winning Star Baker... and being sent home.

The Great British Baking Show, known as the Great British Bake Off in the UK, films weekly—allowing the bakers to return home during the week and film on the weekends.

Abdul, a 29-year-old electronics engineer from London, and Rebs, a 23-year-old masters student from Country Antrim, Northern Ireland, have yet to break through as star bakers. In fact, in last week's episode featuring biscuits, Rebs was near the bottom and in danger of being sent home.

Rebs was also the subject of some controversy last week, when viewers alleged she kept asking for help from her fellow bakers. Yet, fellow contestant Janusz defended her, tweeting, "I offered Rebs helping hand as I finished before time, you just don't see it on TV! You only see Rebs asking me but it was offered prior!"

Rebs herself then tweeted, "Please remember that you see a small, edited snippet of life in the tent so everything is not always as it seems... Please be kind x"

Abdul, on the other hand, has flown more under the radar.

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