Get your pastries and Hollywood Handshakes at the ready, because The Great British Bake Off is coming back for 2021.
Here’s everything you need to know, including when the next Bake Off series airs, how to watch the show in the US, who will be presenting this year and how to apply to compete in the main series yourself.
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When does The Great British Bake Off start?
Channel 4 hasn’t yet revealed a start date for GBBO 2021, but in previous years Bake Off has kicked off around August/September time. Last year the show began on 22 September, so it’s likely that Bake Off 2021 will start in September also.
In these modern times, you don’t just have to watch the bakers struggle with a technical recipe the traditional way. Instead, you can watch on All 4 – live or on-demand with catch-up through a wide range of devices including smart TVs, games consoles, media streamers, phones and tablets.
GBBO presenters and judges
Both Matt Lucas and Noel Fielding will return for hosting duties. Fielding was absent from the Christmas specials as he was on parental leave, but he has been confirmed to return. As always, both Prue Leith and Paul Hollywood will be judging the proceedings.
The Great British Bake Off contestants
We don’t yet have a full line-up of the contestants competing in Bake Off. Channel 4 tends to announce them a few weeks before the show kicks off, so we expect to know them soon. Once we do, we’ll update this article.
Who won GBBO 2020?
The final of The Great British Bake Off 2020 came down to three contestants; Peter, Dave and Laura. It was a close call between Peter and Dave, but by being daring with his showstopper Peter just managed to snag the trophy. He’s the youngest ever contestant to win the Bake Off.
Where to watch Bake Off from outside the UK
As per usual, Bake Off is available through regular UK broadcast TV (or however you get your TV), airing on Channel 4.
If you want to watch from outside the UK – such as the US, where you might know it as The Great British Baking Show – then there are a couple of ways to watch the latest series.
Watch The Great British Baking Show on Netflix
Netflix has the rights to The Great British Baking Show, and typically airs the latest episodes three days after they release in the UK. Therefore, you can catch all the activity in the tent on Fridays, providing you have a Netflix account. Subscriptions for this start from $8.99 per month.
Watch The Great British Bake Off on Channel 4 with a VPN
If you’re worried about spoilers and want to watch the latest episodes as soon as possible, then there is another way: use a VPN (virtual private network) to make it appear as if your device is local if you want to watch along with the UK on the Channel 4 website.
There are loads of VPNs out there, but our top recommendations are NordVPN and Surfshark, both of which we’ve found to be reliable, speedy, and pretty affordable. If you want to see what other options are out there, then take a look at our list of the best VPNs for streaming video.
Once you’ve downloaded and installed your VPN onto your device, here’s the steps you need to take:
Connect to a UK sever on your chosen VPN
Sign up for an account (it’s free, but requires your email)
All 4 requires you to turn off any ad-blockers – which includes any optional ad-blocking in your VPN – so make sure you do that before trying to watch. If you still can’t connect, try a different server within your VPN until you find one that works for you.
Please note that this is against All 4’s terms of service, so proceed at your own risk.
How to apply to be on the GBBO
If you’re a budding baker and would like to apply for Bake Off, then unfortunately applications for 2021 are now closed. They will likely reopen for 2022 later on this year, and you can send in your details to be on the show via the official sign-up page.
