‘The Great British Baking Show’: Eliminated Baker Speaks Out After Cake Week Disaster

[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for The Great British Baking Show, Collection 13, Week 1]

The Great British Baking Show is back for its 16th season (labeled as Collection 13 on Netflix), with 12 new hopeful bakers entering the tent to show off their skills in the hopes of impressing judges Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith.

As always, the season kicked off with Cake Week, where the contestants were given various challenges to come up with sweet treats in the Signature, Technical, and Showstopper rounds. This included making a Swiss roll for the Signature bake, fondant fancies for the Technical, and a landscape cake for the Showstopper.

It was a dramatic first episode, which saw contestant Iain from Belfast struggling with a collapsed cake. But Iain wasn’t the only one having trouble, as Leighton from Surrey presented a leaning Victoria sponge, and Toby from Warwickshire went into stress mode as he nearly ran out the clock.

However, in the end, it was Hassan from South Yorkshire who had the unfortunate distinction of being the first baker eliminated from the tent. The analytical research and development scientist failed to impress in each of the rounds, creating a flat Swiss roll in the Signature, which Hollywood said “looks like it dropped out of a tree,” and a “flavorless” cake in the Showstopper.

 

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Meanwhile, Nataliia, a native of Ukraine who now lives in East Yorkshire, earned the first Star Baker of the season, wowing the judges with her Ukrainian landscape cake, complete with forests, fields, rivers, and a red-jellied heart representing Kyiv.

 

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Speaking after his elimination, Hassan told the BBC, “That’s part of the experience, there’s a lot of things you enjoy and don’t enjoy – it’s about taking both of them forward.”

In the end, he was just happy to make it on the show, noting that so many people apply, and actually making it to the tent seems unfathomable. “The fact that I actually did get on, I honestly never expected it,” he shared.

“Even though it’s been a short-lived experienced, I have enjoyed it,” Hassan added. “Hopefully I can reflect on some things and then maybe get back to baking when I get a chance.”

What did you think about the first episode? Was the right baker sent home? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.