Viewers of The Great British Bake Off received more than they bargained for on the opening episode of Series 14 tonight.
Paul Hollywood, Noel Fielding, and Prue Leith, aspiring baker hopefuls, are back in the tent for another series of the amateur cookery competition.
Alison Hammond, who replaces Matt Lucas as co-host for the Channel 4 Tuesday night staple, is also joining the show tonight.
But, unlike most Bake Off episodes, tonight’s episode was ruined by one competitor and their now-sticky fingers.
When Nicky dipped her fingers into fellow baker Matty’s ganache during the first task, she may have forgotten she was on TV.
Matty’s tiramisu vertical layer cake went bad when his buttercream turned out to look’sick’ (his words, not ours).
‘I’m hiding the terror through the smile,’ he said. But little did he know, two minutes later more terror – the hygiene kind – was around the corner.
While the contenders were all waiting for the sponge to cool, Nicky whispered the words no televised baker ever likes to hear – or so we’d guess.
‘Let’s try a bit of your ganache,’ she said to Matty, while dipping her finger straight into it, without a hint of hesitation.
‘Oooh, it’s fab,’ she said, but viewers didn’t have quite the same enthusiasm.
‘Sticking your finger in someone’s ganache is a no no ANYWHERE never mind the Bake Off tent,’ commented one.
‘Can’t get over Nicky putting her fingers in that guys ganache. I know it was 10 minutes ago but I’m personally offended,’ said another.
Someone else put themselves in Matty’s shoes, as they wrote on X/Twitter: ‘I would definitely not be okay with someone sticking their fingers in my ganache to be honest.’
‘Why did she just put her finger in somebody else’s ganache ffs?’ riddled another.
Others were irked Nicky had done the dirty taste test without asking Matty’s permission.
‘Did she just stick her finger in another baker’s ganache without asking…and without a bloody spoon?’ they said.
Another memorable moment in the tent from the episode saw Dame Prue asking the finger-dipper contestant, ‘So Nicky, let’s have a look at your beaver?’ before erupting into laughter.
It’s going to be another corker.
The Great British Bake Off airs every Tuesday at 8pm on Channel 4.
