Why I’ve given up on GBBO
I wasn’t always a Great British Bake Off fan. That’s not to say I previously didn’t like it, but I never knew about it or had interest in it until I started watching it on Netflix, and by then, Netflix had 5 Seasons of it already.
I was instantly hooked. Paul, Mary, Mel, Sue… the chemistry was great. The criticisms, witty retorts, double entendres, the bakes, the failures… it was all riveting.
As the seasons went on, the bakes got better, the failures…as one would expect… got bigger, and the judging got harsher.
The tone noticeably shifted when Sue, Mel, and Mary left the show. GBBO brought in Noel and Sandy as the double act, and Prue to replace Mary as judge while Paul Hollywood remained.
I understand these were huge shoes to fill, and while Sandy immediately seemed to fall into a comfort zone, Noel looked overwhelmed at times. The eliminations visibly wore on Sandy as weeks and seasons went on, but the thing I noticed more was Paul seemed to get more …. crotchety? Brutal? Coarse?
When he was part of the original group, he seemed to know he was part of a ‘team’, but when 3 of those 4 were changed out, it’s almost like something awoke in him that he realized HE was ‘The Big Name’ and swung that ego around. While his praises were still there (and, in some cases… even elevated to heights of compliments he hadn’t given previously)… his criticisms became more withering. What hit me the most however, and finally made me give up.. was the inconsistency… real, perceived or edited… of the judging.
Too many times in recent seasons it felt like there was CLEARLY as obvious choice of who would be going home due to “Meh in the Signature, last in technical, middling in Showstopper” only to.. somehow.. have that person stick around and someone who was “Good in Sig, 2nd in Technical, Meh in Showstopper” be the one the judges decided to get rid of.
I won’t name contestant names as getting on the show at all means you’ve got chops… but after the semi finals of the most recently posted season, I tapped out. Didn’t watch the finale and can’t see myself watching again in the future. Maybe the show has run its course, maybe it needs a hiatus, maybe a total rework. It’s still amazingly popular so doubtful any of that would happen, but this former GBBO fan is leaving the tent for good
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