Great British Bake Off scraps national-themed weeks
The baking show received backlash last year for its ‘Mexican Week’.
Great British Bake Off has scrapped its national-themed weeks for the 2023 series following backlash.
The food competition will return to Channel 4 later this month for its 13th series, but will be missing its country-themed challenges, which were accused of cultural appropriation.
The show had a ‘Japan Week’ in 2020, followed by ‘a German Week’ the following year, and a ‘Mexican Week’ last year.
Besides dishes that were not authentic to the countries the show was claiming to represent, Mexican Week saw the hosts sporting sombreros and shaking maracas, as well as mispronouncing Spanish words.
Speaking to the Guardian ahead of the Great British Bake Off's return, executive producer Kieran Smith said this year’s competition would be “very traditional”.
"We didn't want to offend anyone but the world has changed and the joke fell flat.
"We're not doing any national themes this year."
Instead, Smith explained, the show would focus on its popular traditional roots. “We’re doing all the regular weeks: Cakes, biscuits, bread, patisserie, chocolate, plus party cakes is a new theme.”
Hollywood and Leith also addressed the backlash, with the former saying he was “gutted” as he “loves” Mexico.
“I’d literally come back from Mexico about three weeks before we filmed the episode,” he said. “I was all over the place, and we set the challenges based on what I’d seen there. The challenges were very good, and everyone did a good job.”
Hollywood continued: “I was gutted. I mean, I was really upset about it.”
Leith added that “we never go out to be controversial”, saying: “We try to be dead honest. It was quite unfortunate that quite a few people took offence, but we certainly didn’t mean it.
In addition to the format change, the new series will also welcome a new presenter, with Alison Hammond taking over as Noel Fielding's co-host following the departure of Matt Lucas.
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Hammond was confirmed as Lucas's replacement back in March, and said in a statement: "Finally, I can talk about it! I’m absolutely thrilled to be joining The Great British Bake Off and can’t wait to meet this year’s bakers.
"It’s a huge honour to be back in the tent and I can’t wait to get started."
The Great British Bake Off will air on Channel 4 from September 2023. Looking for something else to watch? Check out our TV Guide or Streaming Guide, or visit our dedicated Entertainment hub for the latest news.
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