The Great Celebrity Bake Off 2022 episode 1

The Great Celebrity Bake Off 2022 episode 1: Matt Lucas and Noel Fielding are back with the charity version of the baking show, as TV presenter Emma Willis, radio 1 DJ Clara Amfo, Taskmaster co-host Alex Horne and Inbetweeners actor Blake Harrison make their way to the tent. They take on three challenges – decorated biscuits, madeleines in the technical and a showstopping choux sculpture embodying their secret talent, with Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith passing judgement.

 
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Bake Off’s back! Emma Willis, Clara Amfo, Blake Harrison and Alex Horne make biscuits, madeleines and choux sculptures embodying their secret talent. Celebrities join Matt Lucas in the tent aiming to impress judges Paul and Prue as they bake for Stand Up To Cancer.

The Great Celebrity Bake Off 2022 episode 1

The fundraising variant of Bake Off always presents a fine balance for celebrities taking part: yes, it’s great fun and a good laugh, but it will stress you out. You don’t have to see much of Clara Amfo battling with choux pastry and melted chocolate to feel it has tipped towards the latter for her.Meanwhile, Taskmaster’s Alex Horne is (mostly) enjoying himself. We’re expecting the wizard behind any number of creative challenges to be a bit left-field and he doesn’t disappoint.

I’m not sure the tent of dreams has seen anything quite like his representation of a skate park via the medium of cold toad in the hole.Be warned: part-way through the programme there’s an insert reminding us what the fun is in aid of. We hear the story of a woman called Cassie with breast cancer and her nine-year-old son, Kye. Perhaps it’s the fact that the programme has put us in laughter mode, so it takes us by surprise, but it’s devastating.

Paul Hollywood

The elder statesman of Bake Off, Paul is the only member of the team who has been with the show since its very beginning, originally judging alongside Mary Berry until the move to Channel 4 in 2017. Paul also hosts the US version of the programme, The American Baking Competition and has served as head baker at a number of hotels in the UK and abroad, after first beginning his career at his father’s bakery when he was still in his teens.

Although it was Bake Off that really made Paul a household name, he had made some other TV appearances beforehand on shows including The Heaven and Earth Show and This Morning, while since making his name as a judge he has appeared on a number of programmes including his own show Paul Hollywood’s Pies and Puds.

Paul is known for his often harsh comments and for setting frequently challenging tasks in the signature challenge, while his coveted “Hollywood handshakes” reserved for the very best bakes have become a popular feature of the show.