'The Great British Baking Show' Season 8 is Coming to Netflix This Month
Fans of The Great British Baking Show have been anxiously watching the news for signs of the series' return. Filming for the new season (for them, Series 11, for us, Season 8) was initially supposed to start in April, just as the coronavirus pandemic shut everything down. But as Europe got things under control, and the U.K. case numbers fell, rumbles of filming began to emerge in July, with reports the season had completed work towards the end of August. Channel 4 promised that the show would return as close to its regular "end of August" release date as possible despite the delay.
When the announcement came the new season would premiere on Tuesday, Sept. 22, British fans were thrilled, but American fans looked nervously at Netflix. Would the streamer pick GBBO up again this year? Would it air the show weekly on Fridays after it aired overseas, at it had last year, so we in the States could follow the ups and downs of the dough?
Everyone can rest easy by their ovens and fan themselves with their cutting boards because the wait is over. Netflix has announced The Great British Baking Show Season 8 returns to the streamer on Friday, Sept. 25, and will air once a week, ensuring that we too can have Biscuit Week as a treat.
The tent is back open for business!
— Netflix (@netflix) September 15, 2020
On September 25, an all-new season of The Great British Baking Show will start rolling out on Netflix in The US — new episodes will be available every Friday (three days after they premiere in The UK) pic.twitter.com/CQdzQbTiJ6
Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith will return once more to the tent for judging. The hosts will be different though, as Sandi Toksvig has moved on. She's be replaced by Matt Lucas (Doctor Who) who joins Noel Fielding to give the weekly: "On your mark, Get set, Bake."
Today's announcement coincided with the reveal of this year's 12 contestants, which were tweeted out earlier by the official GBBO account. They are:
- Dave: An armored guard from Hampshire who listens to punk rock while baking.
- Hermine: A London-based accountant who loves to make marmalade.
- Laura: Thrives under pressure and works as a digital manager in Kent.
- Linda: A retirement living team leader and sausage rolls are her signature dish.
- Loriea: A diagnostic radiographer who celebrates her Caribbean roots through baking.
- Lottie: From West Sussex and produces pantomimes for a living.
- Mak: An accountant from Manchester who taught himself how to bake.
- Marc: A support worker in Cornwall who entered Bake Off to impress his daughters.
- Mark: From Northern Ireland and his love of baking began with a Mac ‘n’ Cheese pie.
- Peter: Inspired to start baking when he tuned in to the first series of #GBBO.
- Rowan: A music teacher from Worcestershire who loves his swimming.
- Sura: A pharmacy dispenser in London with a great passion for design.
You read that right, this year's youngest contestant bakes because of watching the show when he was little. I suppose that's inevitable once a show's been on for a decade.
Recaps will run here weekly, following the American Friday airing schedule. We'll see you in the tent.
The Great British Baking Show begins streaming weekly on Netflix on Friday, Sept. 25, 2020.
