‘The Great British Baking Show’ Teaser Says Nigella First
We’re all hoping 'The Great British Baking Show' can get behind Nigella for Season 17.
While it was a heartfelt goodbye to Prue Leith when she announced her exit from The Great British Baking Show’s tent, it was also a timely moment of turnover for the series. When Leith was hired in 2018, the objective was to find a partner for Paul that the U.K. public would accept as a 1:1 replacement for Mary Berry, who quit (along with original hosting duo Sue Perkins and Mel Giedroyc) when the series moved bag and baggage from the BBC to Channel 4. Unfortunately, over the last eight years, the job requirements have changed and now include the unspoken skill of keeping fellow judge Paul Hollywood on a tight behavioral leash.
Berry did it by sheer dint of being more famous than he was when the series began; Leith was less lucky. She was neither more famous nor from a higher class strata, and by the time her retirement was announced, it was obvious that wrangling Paul was simply not what she wanted to be doing with her time.
Unlike Berry, Leith’s exit from the judging table was planned well in advance; Love Productions announced her replacement, former Food Network staple Nigella Lawson, within a week’s time. Her credentials are impeccable: not only is she significantly better known and loved than Paul Hollywood in America, but she’s the daughter of the late Nigel Lawson, Baron Lawson of Blaby, making her significantly higher in the class hierarchy.
It remains to be seen if Lawson’s arrival will go over as well as host Alison Hammond’s; after suffering through the awkward pairing of hosts Sandi Toksvig and Noel Fielding, and then the even worse pairing of Fielding with Matt Lucas, her arrival did wonders for the show’s overall tone. Hopefully adding more Ladies First energy to the tent will only improve matters.
According to the Season 17 press release:
Following January’s announcement that Nigella Lawson would join the show as judge, the Bake Off foursome have spent the hottest summer together in the tent, with a new intake of bakers rising to each of the challenges. With filming now complete, viewers can expect to see Nigella bringing her trademark warmth, wit and passion for flavor to the tent, alongside Paul Hollywood and his famously exacting eye for a great bake on judging duties, as Alison Hammond and Noel Fielding return to guide the bakers and keep them smiling through the thrills, spills and showstoppers in what promises to be a truly delicious series.
Hosts Alison Hammond and Noel Fielding return to the tent as the first great hosting duo since Sue & Mel exited after Season 7. Longtime judge Paul Hollywood will be joined by Nigella Lawson, his third co-judge since the series started, to set the challenges and do the tastings.
We expect the full lineup of home bakers who will compete in the tent in the coming days, along with the official Channel 4 and Netflix release dates.
The Great British Baking Show Season 17 is expected to debut in September 2026 on Channel 4 in the U.K., and follow on Netflix in the U.S. within the week.
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The series will continue following a weekly release schedule, with the finale due out around Thanksgiving, before being followed by Prue Leith’s last hurrah in the tent for The Great British Baking Show: Holidays Season 9.
