A Great British Bake Off contestant won’t appear in the premiere episode (Picture: Channel 4/ Love Productions/ Mark Bourdillon/ PA Wire)
A Great British Bake Off contestant was ‘forced to miss’ the first episode of the upcoming season.
The beloved baking series first premiered in 2010 and quickly picked up a loyal audience, who have been entertained by naughty innuendos, soggy bottoms, and ridiculously difficult challenges over the years.
It will return to screens tonight, with the 15th season to see the next group of amateur bakers competing to be named champion.
They will be vying to impress judges Paul Hollywood and Dame Prue Leith with the support of presenters Noel Fielding and Alison Hammond too.
However, one of the 12 contestants doesn’t get a chance to show off their skills from the start and is missing from the tent.
In the episode, Alison reveals to the other bakers that one contestant is feeling unwell and they are missing for the rest of the premiere, meaning 11 bakers then trying to avoid being voted off.
They fall ill and are forced to pull out (Picture: Channel 4/ Love Productions/ Mark Bourdillon/ PA Wire)
‘The baker was gutted to miss out on second day but they weren’t feeling up to it and so they had to sit it out,’ a source told The Mirror.
The premiere episode also sees another baker get the ‘Hollywood handshake’ after impressing judge Paul impressed in the signature challenge.
Among the bakers for 2024 are a palliative care nurse, a student on her gap year and a dad who moved to Yorkshire in the 80s after growing up in the Bronx.
One of those competing to be crowned champion is 53-year-old Gill from Lancashire (Picture: Channel 4)
Long-time host Noel, who joined the show in 2017, recently shared some hilarious behind-the-scenes ancedotes from this season.
‘I’ll never be able to unsee it. What I love about Alison – and I mean this with the greatest of respect – is that she’s an absolute klutz. If anyone’s going to fall out of a hammock, it’ll be her. She also fell backwards off one of the workbenches while showing off. Don’t worry, she was OK. No Hammonds were harmed in the making of this series,’ he said when speaking to The Guardian.
The presenter and comedian also said this season was a ‘belter’.
‘There are some very special bakers in the tent this year. Somehow the standard keeps getting higher. These unbelievable young bakers are way better than they should be for their age. It’s a vintage year. One of the best yet.’
Metro.co.uk has contacted Channel 4 for comment.
The Great British Bake Off returns tonight at 8pm on Channel 4.
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