Great British Bake Off 2020 final proves ratings record for Channel 4

The Great British Bake Off 2020 has cooked up a ratings record for Channel 4 with an average of 9.2m viewers tuning in to watch the final.

The 11th series of the baking competition saw Scottish student Peter Sawkins crowned the champion, and become the youngest ever Bake Off winner at just 20-years-old.

Channel 4 revealed that the 2020 final drew an average of 9.2m viewers - an audience share of 39.7 per cent, with peak viewing figures of 10.4m.

Read more: Paul Hollywood calls Bake Off 2020 'closest to a draw it's ever been'

Peter’s victory over fellow finalists Dave and Laura was watched by 2.3 million more than tuned in to last year's live final and was the show’s biggest audience since it moved from BBC One in 2017, according to Channel 4.

Judge Paul Hollywood said the competition was, “as close to a draw than I've ever seen,” following Peter and Dave’s performance in the showstopper, making a tower of treats to represent their time on Bake Off, including some of their favourite creations as well as those they would have liked to improve on.

After hearing he’d won, Peter said: “I can’t quite believe that I’m here. I can’t quite believe that I made it on the show. I can’t quite believe the show happened.

“This is going to be a really huge chapter in my life, and what a way for it to end.”

The 20-year-old admitted he has been watching the show since it began in 2010 - “for half my life.”

Hollywood joked: “You’re making me feel old.”

Bake Off – which is shot in a purpose-built tent – was able to go ahead with the contestants, judges, presenters and production crew, approximately 120 people, living in a self-contained biosphere for six weeks in a south-east location so they did not have to socially distance.

But it meant a “gruelling” filming schedule for the contestants, who usually go home during the week and film only at weekends, with filming every other two days and less time to practise their bakes.

Read more: Bake Off’s Laura calls for kindness from viewers over show result

The latest series of The Great British Bake Off also saw record viewing figures for its launch episode, with 7.9 million people watching.

This follows a fall in ratings for the 2019 series, which lost 400k viewers from the previous year’s launch episode.

The 90-minute episode drew an average of 5.7 million viewers, the lowest overnight ratings for a launch since 2013, when the first episode of the series drew 5.6 million viewers to BBC Two.

The biggest slice of viewing figures the Bake Off has ever taken was for the 2016 final, which aired on BBC One, and saw 16.03 million viewers tune in to see Candice Brown named the winner.

Watch: The winner of GBBO 2020 revealed