Yep, me too. I don't see Candice as being out ahead of her. Candice has had a few more wow moments but Jane has been the consistently better contestant with some wow moments of her own. I'd back Jane before Candice. Jane has had only one bad week, Candice has had at least two.

My mum said it's a 'tennis set-up'... which makes sense.
You could lose a tennis match with the following score:
6-1, 6-0, 4-6, 5-7, 4-6

You win 25 games
Opponent wins 20 games.

You lose.

Don't get too excited. They say it's a rumour. Latest from Channel 4 is that they haven't approached anyone yet.

Unless the BBC relent, the first new show won't be until 2018 anyway. There will be a special in 2017, but they always had guest presenters for those rather than Mel and Sue.

Candice has grown on me. Her pouting seems to happen when she's not sure of what the judges are going to say.

She seems to really think about what she's going to bake, not always with success. I'm hoping she wins.

Yeah, as much as I love Richard this just seems like another one for the rumour mill. I could actually see him and Paul clashing more on Paul's side as Richard is better looking (in my opinion anyway) taller, younger, more intelligent, wittier, need I go on?

In seriousness I think they need to be careful if they pick a male host or co-host as I think Paul's ego could be an issue.

As much as I love Richard Ayoade and find him amusingly sardonic and a decent presenter on the gadget show, I think he'd be dreadful on Bake off. He doesn't have the warmth necessary to interact with contestants. And have you seem him in the Krishnan Guru-Murthy interview?

I think Johnny Vegas and Monkey need to bury their professional differences and be the new hosts on Channel 4. Johnny looks like he'd appreciate a slice of cake and if the series was sponsored by PG Tips (what goes better with cake than a cup of tea?) Then it would be win win all round as I think Monkey is still under contract with PG

I think Richard would be an amazing presenter for bake off, he can do no wrong in my eyes. lets hope its true

I suspect if it were true, you'd possibly have to re-assess your notion, because it would be an utter car crash. he doesn't have the personality or skillset to make a success of bake off. He's very good at what he does but what he does it completely inappropriate.

And I guess that the show would then be aimed at a different audience (a typically youthful C4 audience who would understand/enjoy his quirkiness rather than a BBC one audience).

Well, given it started on BBC Two and hasn't changed it's format in any way at all at any point, I'd say it was never aimed at a BBC One audience in the first place.

It would be a different show, yes. Mainly because I doubt very much if you could take a show which is as... genteel and laid back as Bake Off generally is and make it appeal to 'the kids'. Certainly not just by putting Richard Ayoade in as a presenter.

Put it this way - putting Rizzle Kicks CDs up as items on Antiques Roadshow probably wouldn't make that big with the youth market either. (not that many 'youth' today would recognise a CD, but that's a bit of a different argument).

You could possibly make a cookery show with Richard as a presenter in such a way that it would appeal mainly to people under the age of say 25. I absolutely accept that is possible. But that show would not, in any sense at all, be 'Bake Off'. To pay a king's ransom for a format only to then change it beyond recognition seems to me rather pointless.

Like your analogy of it, Bake off tennis match. The umpire's being Mary and Paul. With the comentators Mel and Sue. Who is going to ace it this week.

Bake Off Day! Looking forward to tonight - patisserie week is always fiendishly difficult, but the end results tend towards the prettiest things they create every series. I do agree that Candice and Jane are the most obvious frontrunners, both have had the most consistence in the competition. Candice is being telegraphed as the winner, from the edit, but I suspect the competition is wide open right now, and I still think Andrew may have a couple more truly spectacular bakes in him. However, I did laugh a lot at The Guardian's mini-preview of tonight's show:

Selasi and the three other people also on this show compete in the semi-final. Highlights include Selasi doing one of Sue’s time-checks for her; Selasi pacing agitatedly; Selasi interrupting Mary and then being adorably embarrassed; Selasi dressing a cake without taking it out of the freezer; Selasi binning some slightly imperfect sponge; and Selasi allowing his brow to be mopped as he furiously whisks. Oh, the theme? Patisserie.

Biased much?!

Do you mean The Guardian's biased toward Selasi? It reads to me like it's a bit of a piss-take of the TV edit, where perhaps Selasi is given proportionately more exposure than the others. I like 'Selasi and the three other people...'; suggesting that they're mere supporting players to Selasi's leading role in the show.

I suppose all will become clear later.

(Incidentally, if Selasi gets to the final, I'll write my first post-show comment in this thread in my underpants.)

Only two more eps to go.

I'd love to see all the series again right from the start. We've seen some amazing characters and fabulous bakes over the years!

BiB when they do that it generally means they don't win, not over all anyway. If they heavily highlight a contestant it can mean they are for the chop.

They are often repeated on Good Food (I think that's what the channels called now, the UKTV good channel)

I really want Selasi or Andrew to win the series.

Would be disappointed if Jane or Candice did, though can't see past Candice at the moment.


Don't want this series to end.

Thanks.

I'm doing that at the moment, I'm on series 3. Although for me it's the first time watching them. Every year I kept saying I must start watching it, I finally do and it's the last BBC year, hopefully I wasn't the jinx

Who does everyone think will do well?
I'm thinking Selasi to go
Andrew/Jane to get star baker tonight
Candice to win overall show
The trailer gives nothing away! Did anyone see they the showstopper clip? They showed mini blue cakes.. but they looked too feminine to be Andrew's? I can't decide who will win this week! Help!
(I'm in a predictor game at work where we have to predict who does best in each challenge, who wins star baker and who goes out each week so getting really competitive now!)

To be honest, I think if I had to rate them in ability and creativity it would probably be Candice > Selasi > Jane > Andrew but only by very small amounts. Andrew seems to me to be a competent baker but the only thing I can think of from him that's memorable is the Ferris wheel cake stand. And that wasn't actually baking, that was more metalwork.

However, I don't there's really been one standout favourite this year mainly because they've been so inconsistent. I'd say these four and Benjamina were better than the rest of the starting lineup but any of the final five seem capable of having a complete nightmare at any point.


Agreed. Sadly it will.

Evening all. Fondant fancy anyone?

Evening all - can't believe I'm on holiday next week not well thought out!

Evening all

Tucking in to some Millionaire's Shortbread in honour of this weeks episode!