It’s been a rough couple of years for the Great British Bake Off. Because of the incredibly complicated baking challenges, much-loathed former co-host Matt LucasAnd our general fatigue with the format, it’s safe to say that the show has lost a bit of its shine. However, things look up as of today.
Channel 4 announced Friday that Alison Hammond was a U.K. TV actress and presenter who made her debut on reality TV. Big Brother, would replace Lucas as co-host for the show’s next season. Hammond posted the following on her Instagram account: posted Here’s a picture of a cake. To celebrate, she included tiny edible sculptures of her, her co-host Noel Fielding and the judges Prue Leith, and Paul Hollywood. Fielding appeared especially excited by the new change via his Instagram account. “I’m absolutely pumped we are working together,” Fielding wrote. “We are gonna spend the whole time giggling like naughty school kids. The bakers are gonna love you to bits.”
Hammond isn’t entirely new to the GBBO universe. She was a guest on a celebrity edition in 2020 to raise money for cancer research. Her charm instantly won over the audience. infectious humor. That sense of humor will be especially welcome on the forthcoming season of GBBO, considering that we’ve all been subjected to Matt Lucas’s deeply corny, often offensive “jokes” for so long.
The news that Hammond will be taking over from Lucas was received almost as enthusiastically on social media as the announcement that Lucas was leaving. “Allison Hammond [sic] joining the bake off has made me believe god isn’t dead,” said One Twitter user commented that they were inspired by the decision, while others suggested that it might be the catalyst that inspires them to return to the show.
Hammond’s arrival is part of a revamp that will hopefully restore some of the energy to the once-beloved competition series. Its final season had the lowest ratings in the show’s history, and GBBO producers have vowed to “strip it back to the basics” in an effort to win back viewers. Those changes include “easier tasks” and “more classic bakes,” which sounds especially promising after the previous stunt-packed season.
The premiere date of the next Great British Bake-Off season has yet to be announced, but it is expected that it will air sometime in the U.K.