The past few days have been a whirlwind of emotion for fans of competitive baking programs: First, it was announced that The Great British Bake Off would be leaving the BBC for Channel 4 after seven seasons. Then, longtime hosts Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins revealed they would not be following the show to its new home. Now, rumors are swirling that Bake Off’s judges, Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood, might also depart, which would be another devastating blow for the program.
Still, if there’s any silver lining to be had from this drama, it’s that the headlines that followed it have looked like this:
- “Ready, Set, Flake: Is ‘Bake Off’ About To Crumble?” (NPR)
- “The Great British Bake Off Disaster: Why the BBC Got Burned” (the Guardian)
- “Stealing Bake Off From BBC Was Just Crummy, C4” (the Sun)
- “The Great British Bake Off Will Become the Icing on Channel 4’s Cake” (the Independent)
- “Bake Off Fans Knead to Know Judges’ Plans” (RTÉ)
- “Breadxit: Reaction to Bake Off Moving to Channel 4” (BBC News)
- “Scone but Not Forgotten: Mel and Sue’s Sauciest Ever Innuendos on Great British Bake Off“(Plymouth Herald)
- “Great British Bake Off: Will it Go Off the Boil on Channel 4?“ (the Week)
- “Mel and Sue are Leaving the Tent: Can “The Great British Bake Off” Still Rise Without These Key Ingredients?” (Salon)
Who doesn’t love a good baking pun? (We certainly do.) But this sudden outpouring of wordplay isn’t entirely random. Food puns and innuendos have long been a staple of Bake Off, with hosts, contestants, and judges alike rattling off quips about “hot baps” and “perfect nuts.” Perkins and Giedroyc even made it a cornerstone of their departure announcement, telling the world, “We’re not going with the dough.”
Let’s honor their legacy, then, by celebrating even the most ridiculous puns, even in the face of such a painful “custardy” battle.
