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Bake Off's start date is announced by Channel 4

Photo credit: Channel 4
Photo credit: Channel 4

From Digital Spy

Channel 4 has officially announced when The Great British Bake Off is coming back, and it's going to be messy.

The first edition on Channel 4 will debut on Tuesday, August 29 at 8pm, which means it will go directly up against BBC Two's rival series The Big Family Cooking Showdown.

Just when we thought getting used to a brand new Bake Off was weird enough, we now have to process the fact that it will be shown on Tuesdays rather than Wednesdays. Hump day will never feel the same again.

The BBC's Big Family Cooking Showdown – featuring former Bake Off winner Nadiya Hussain as co-host alongside Zoe Ball – launched last night (August 15) to more than 1.7 million viewers.

Bake Off would normally get nearer to the 9 million mark, so it remains to be seen whether Channel 4 can achieve such numbers this time around.

Photo credit: BBC
Photo credit: BBC

Noel Fielding and Sandi Toksvig replace Mel & Sue as hosts of the revamped Bake Off, while Prue Leith takes over from Mary Berry as a co-judge, alongside the returning Paul Hollywood.

Hollywood recently said that he has "missed" Mel, Mary and Sue since filming the new series, admitting: "When I started filming the new Bake Off it was hard."

Paul's decision to remain with the show caused a bit of a stir when the move was announced partway through the final BBC series.

"It has been hard because I was called a traitor over my decision to leave the BBC to go to Channel 4," Paul said, addressing the online hate he received for his move.

"The other three left for whatever reason but I didn't want to lose my job. The show found me and I didn't want to turn my back on them."


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