Great British Bake Off returns with Nigella Lawson as judge

tvSep 22, 2026691,626

Channel 4’s new season of The Great British Bake Off debuted with Nigella Lawson joining the judging panel alongside Paul Hollywood. Early viewers praised Lawson’s presence as warm, witty and exacting, with one calling her "wise, erudite, witty, kind but exacting" and saying Noel and Alison "palpably adore her." Several posts noted Lawson’s different judging criteria visibly unsettled Paul Hollywood and that she enthusiastically sampled large portions on-screen. Some longtime viewers said Lawson’s addition brought them back to the show after years away, and others highlighted the series’ diverse contestants, mentioning a polyamorous pairing and a contestant who uses a wheelchair. A number of viewers described the opener as well paced and cast Lawson as an immediate, energizing foil for the existing panel. The casting decision has already become a talking point for this series’ tone and chemistry in the tent.

Moira Donegan

@moiradonegan.bsky.social

If you, like me, love soothing, low-stakes television, then I see your Great British Bake Off and raise you this show where historians work to build a castle using only 13th century methods.

SECRETS OF THE CASTLE with Ruth, Peter, and Tom, showing the three hosts in period dress standing in front of a partially constructed castle.

31818d ago

Moira Donegan159

Allow the calm, confident voice of a public television narrator to soothe you to sleep with shockingly minute details about masonry

Kwertzy Industries17

they have multiple series! Where they live on a farm in multiple eras! The Tudor Monastery era! The Edwardian era! The Victorian Era! Etc! They are my happy place!

Morgan Johnson7

We’ve watched every season these lunatics have made and I love them. Ruth in particular has a zeal for indulging in it sadistic cleaning tasks

Angelle Haney Gullett4

Ooooh, this trio is my favorite comfort watch!

Sam Morey4

On this cold, rainy post-Yom Kippur, this sounds absolutely perfect

Mark Sumner 🌒4

Endless episodes of Time Team in which *nothing happens* got me through the pandemic.

Alex Andreou

@sturdyalex.bsky.social

I hadn’t watched #GBBO for several years, tbh. Somewhere between format-exhaustion and Pru Leith’s politics, it had just lost its shine. So, I am actually quite grateful to @nigella.bsky.social for giving me back a show I used to love. And after one episode, I cannot fathom it without her on it.

33217d ago

Headline Vibe · by NoMAGA81

Nigella restores the sense that baking is meant to be pleasurable, not an Olympic event with butter. That warmth changes the whole temperature of the tent.

Amuse.23

It’s like Grace on Masterchef, you find yourself thinking “why not years ago?” An absolute breath of fresh air.

Dan21

Leith’s Brexit advocacy was a red flag, despite her assertion that she wasn’t locked to any political stance. The fact that she birthed Danny Kruger is unfortunate, and adds to the miasma of her political fuckery.

Iain14

Agreed. Only way to top it would be if Mel and Sue were back and it was on the BBC again, then it would be the ultimate version of it.

Kathryn Harrison11

She’s fantastic isn’t she, so positive and she eats cake properly- a massive forkful

Andrew Brook9

It was a genius decision to put Nigella on that show. She lights up everything she appears in.

Quoting this

Thérèse2

I haven't watched #GBBO since they moved to Channel 4. Should I start watching again?

cuteosphere

@cuteosphere.bsky.social

I know that Americans have a way of watching Great British Bake Off, but I wonder if Great British Sewing Bee is watchable in the US too. I like that one more because it’s basically the same show but for sewing clothes instead of baking

17518d ago

cuteosphere144

In recent series they’ve had them make adaptive clothing too (and explained how clothing with adaptations for disabled people are important) and I find that sweet

Karma4

Not for me but for all interested it's on the Roku channel for free here in the US 👍 Yall have fun lol

Milly🍎 [Malachyte]3

This sounds very up my alley! I’ll have to track that down

🔞Dirty the Thing🔞2

What do you think they'd rename it if it was imported? Like how Great British Bake Off renamed to Great British Baking Show for trademark purposes

🥩CRYING TIGER STEAK🌶 🔜ANE????????1

I'll have to recommend my mom!

Frankie Frankenstein1

looks up from stress cross stitching. oh you dont sayyyyy

Richy Craven

@richycraven.bsky.social

"There's a poly drag queen on bake-off" sounds like Nigel Farage's Winter Soldier activation phrase. #GBBO

13017d ago

Michael Fry

@bigdirtyfry.bsky.social

This is the toughest series of Great British Bake Off yet. if Nigella Lawson said she didn’t like something I made I would simply die of shame. Sorry for bothering you my queen.

10217d ago

Dr Panti Bliss-Cabrera

@pantibliss.bsky.social

Nigella joins Bake Off and immediately there's a gay throuple on it. Cause or effect?

9017d ago

madeline odent

@oldenoughtosay.com

Something I very sincerely love about bake off is how they throw this stuff in the chat with absolutely no preamble, no follow up, no nothing just boom “here’s himself and his partners” “here’s herself in a wheelchair we will not mention it otherwise but her counter is accessible”

8717d ago

Nerine Skinner

@nerineskinner.bsky.social

Nigella Lawson Vs Paul Hollywood Taste Test Great British Bake Off

1617d ago

Samit Sarkar

@samitsarkar.bsky.social

nothing in this list has gotten a bigger reaction out of me than the 7-second clip for The Great British Bake Off, which shows a springform pan's ring being removed from a distressingly wet cake that proceeds to melt like the Nazis' faces at the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark reader, I cackled

2118d ago

Kat Brown

@katbrownwrites.com

Utterly thrilled to have Bake Off back, not only for Nigella, not only for coffee and walnut cake, not only for joyous bakers, but for Alison blithely managing to get “lemon party” into #GBBO bingo.

1617d ago