The Great British Bake Off’s final season had the lowest ratings in the show’s history, and its chief producer has now conceded that it failed.
The thirteenth season of the popular reality cooking show premiered in 2017, and while it rapidly gained a devoted following, many fans walked away last year.
Some claimed that the programme had ‘lost its personality’ and that the tasks were now ‘inaccessible,’ particularly for home bakers.
Now, showrunner and executive producer Richard McKerrow has admitted that the components that suited the programme so well for so long didn’t exactly stay.
‘I’d be the first to hold up our hands and say that I feel that the last series was not our strongest,’ he said.
The previous season, with an audience of eight million after 28 days, was the first not to average nine million.
The finale was then seen by 5.2 million people, which was two million fewer than the previous low in 2021.
These figures contributed to the season being the lowest-rated since the format was switched to Channel 4 in 2017.
McKerrow, on the other hand, stated that he had considered the input that the show had grown too difficult for the participants.
‘Heading into season 14 you have to take a look at it and think: “s***, [are] the challenges too complicated?”,’ he said on Rethink Audio’s The Media Podcast with Matt Deegan.
‘We are looking very hard at making sure [this next series] is as good as it can be.’
Amid the conversation, McKerrow also mentioned how tough it had been to produce the programme during lockdown for two years, which involved establishing a self-contained ‘biosphere’ for cast and crew.
He claimed it took ‘enormous effort and sacrifice’ to film in the bubble.
Looking ahead to the following season, however, the TV executive hinted that a successor for Matt Lucas will be unveiled shortly.
‘The most important thing is to find…someone who is curious, who cares, and who understands that their job as one of the MCs is to play that role, and to look after the bakers during their experience, and to be curious about what they’re baking, and to do it with charm, humour, and kindness,’ he said.
Late last year, Little Britain actor Matt announced his departure from the show after three seasons, stating that he could no longer commit to the production’s schedule.
He had been hosting alongside Noel Fielding, but stated it was time to ‘hand the baguette to someone else’ since he couldn’t balance the show, Fantasy Football League, and his other ventures.
The fourteenth season will begin production in April.
Great British Bake Off is expected to return to Channel 4 in the autumn.