Meet The Bakers Of Great British Bake Off 2026

Who Are The Judges?

Earlier this year, Channel 4 announced that TV chef Nigella Lawson would be joining The Great British Bake Off as its newest judge. She replaces Prue Leith, who steps down from the prestigious gig after nine years, and joins long-time judge Paul Hollywood. Leith has starred on Bake Off since 2017, when she took over from Mary Berry. 

But Nigella has been welcomed warmly by the Bake Off family. Speaking at a special screening of the new series, co-host Alison Hammond said: ‘It’s quite a daunting moment when you first walk into that tent, so we made sure [Nigella] was okay and asked if there was anything she needed. But it turned out she didn’t need anything, really – she just walked straight in front of the cameras like she’d been doing it for years. She’s magical, isn’t she? Our queen.’

When asked what kind of judging style she’ll bring to the tent, Nigella said she aims for firm but fair. ‘I always try to look for the positive, because you don’t ever want criticism to be something that makes people feel inadequate, or that hampers rather than encourages,’ she explained. ‘It’s important to let someone know what they’re doing well, and what needs to be a bit better. All you have to go on is your honest reactions – you can’t do anything except be honest. What’s fascinating to me is seeing, over the course of the series, how people learn – making mistakes isn’t what matters, it’s learning from them.

‘The thing I love is that Paul and I carry on talking about it after we’ve tasted something – what we liked, what we didn’t, where we think it could be different,’ she added. ‘There’s never a sense of, the “camera’s off, so that’s it.” You get so involved that you can’t just switch off. Sometimes I agonise quite a bit, because you’re weighing up whether someone’s done well on one front but fallen down on another. It matters, so you have to be sure you’ve really thought it through.’

‘It’s constructive criticism,’ Paul added. ‘If you’re constantly saying that’s great, that’s great, that’s great, you don’t actually get any better. They all go on a journey – by the end they’re much more rounded bakers, because you can hear it: their timings improve, their finish, their polish.’ He also mentioned that the Bake Off core four have their own group chat where they keep each other up to speed: ‘Even away from filming, if one of us vents on the WhatsApp group, suddenly everybody’s on it, and the other three just pile in. It’s amazing.’

The bakers were also excited to meet Bake Off‘s new judge. ‘There were a lot of Nigella fans, let’s put it that way,’ laughed Hammond. ‘There was that added pressure, on top of already being a fan of Paul’s, of having this iconic woman in the tent too. Anything she said, they hung on her every word.’

‘I think one week Nigella said she liked more salt, and the next week all the bakers were adding loads of the stuff into their bakes,’ added Noel.

Who Is Nigella Lawson?

A food writer, TV chef and all-round national treasure, Lawson is the perfect choice for Bake Off – as Channel 4’s Ian Katz describes it, it feels like ‘the marriage of two great British icons: Bake Off and Nigella.’ But where did it all begin?

Born in Wandsworth, London, food was always a big part of Lawson’s life as her mother, Vanessa, owned the famous J. Lyons and Co. catering company (her father, meanwhile, was the Tory MP Nigel Lawson). But it was during her time at Oxford University that Lawson realised she ‘liked feeding people’. She would shop for ingredients at Oxford’s Covered Market before coming back to her student kitchen to whip up batch dishes like French onion soup (often resourcefully nabbing bits and pieces from other housemates’ rooms).

Her first job, though, was in journalism rather than cooking. Aged 23, Lawson began writing book reviews for The Spectator, and she went on to become deputy literary editor of the Sunday Times. But eventually she left to go freelance, allowing her the freedom to focus on writing about her greatest love in life: food. 

In 1998 she published her first cookbook, How to Eat, which was inspired by a disastrous dinner party. ‘I had gone to a dinner party where the host spent the time rushing back to the stove and then could be heard sobbing loudly,’ Lawson told The Guardian. ‘I think that too many people feel that they must strain to produce restaurant food in a domestic kitchen, and I wanted to counter that.’ The book quickly became a bestseller, and she followed it with How To Be A Domestic Goddess – described by Lawson as ‘a book about baking, but not a baking book’.

Lawson became known for her relaxed, no-guilt food ethos, one which shuns rigid measurements and diet culture and celebrates the pleasure of home cooking. ‘I do think the fact that I am a bit of a kitchen klutz, and fit cooking into an already busy life (and I started writing food books when I was a non-food columnist with young children), means that I cook in much the same way as my readers, or viewers,’ she said in an interview. ‘Real cooking, the sort that goes on in homes, does not have to be tricksy or difficult, and I felt it was important to demonstrate that.’

Lawson is no stranger to the screen, either: she has starred in a string of TV shows including Nigella Bites (1999) and Nigella’s Cook, Eat, Repeat (2020), as well as featuring as a guest judge on the US version of MasterChef.

Paul Hollywood, Alison Hammond, Nigella Lawson and Noel Fielding will be running the tent this season

Who Are The Hosts?

While things are being shaken up over at the judges table, our hosting duo remain the same: Alison Hammond and Noel Fielding return as the comedic hosts of Great British Bake Off.

What Happens In Bake Off?

Bake Off will continue the same tried-and-tested format as usual, which sees a line-up of amateur bakers competing for the judges’ approval in the famous white tent. Each week includes a series of challenges: first up is the Signature (a test of the bakers’ creative flair), followed by the Technical (a high-pressure, skill-based task) and ending with the Showstopper (a chance to go all out). One baker is then crowned Star Baker by the judges, while another is eliminated.

What Are The Weekly Themes?

Each week of Bake Off, the bakers are tasked with challenges that centre on a specific baking theme. (Think bread, chocolate, cake and area-specific cuisines.) As always, each season begins with Cake Week – and this year, the specific challenges have been set by new judge, Nigella Lawson. Rumour has it, she has a thing for stout cake…

New for series 17 is an ‘Audience Choice’ week, which sees the contestants taking part in a challenge decided by viewers. ‘For the first time ever, we are going to be sharing the reins for this audience choice week,’ said Hollywood. ‘We want to give our brilliant viewers the chance to help shape the show, and see their ideas come to life in the tent. People often come up to me in the street with challenges they wish they could see on the show, well now is the perfect opportunity!’ The deadline for submissions has now closed, but you can see which ones were chosen when the series lands this autumn.

The Great British Bake Off Series 16, Episode 1 (c) Channel 4, Laura Palmer

When Is The Great British Bake Off On TV?

The Great British Bake Off returns to Channel 4 on Tuesday 22 September at 8pm. Subsequent episodes will air weekly at the same time.

After airing, all episodes will be available to stream on Channel 4’s streaming platform.

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