Noel Fielding

Noel Fielding (8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown) will be returning with Alison Hammond (This Morning) to share presenting duties. Meanwhile, Paul Hollywood (Paul Hollywood’s Big Continental Trip) and Prue Leith (My Kitchen Rules) will also be heading back into the tent to act as beady-eyed judges.

The teaser is the cooking show’s first ever animated trailer, and features Fielding and Hammond as bees. Anyone who isn’t a fan of puns should look away now: there’s references aplenty to soggy bottoms and Alison feeling ‘buzzed’ for the new series.

Beside the Mighty Boosh star and Bake Off presenter, Bonneville (Downton Abbey) will play Turpin’s arch-nemesis, the self-appointed “thief-taker”, otherwise known as Jonathan Wilde.

When Turpin is appointed the unwilling leader of a group of bandits, he is sent on a bizarre journey of strange adventures. Turpin’s highway robbery success is mainly due to his good hair and charisma, but there is only so far this can get him when riding the rollercoaster of a life of crime and being chased by a “thief-taker.”

Hammond (This Morning) was a fan favourite when competing on Celebrity Great British Bake Off 2020. She described herself to the judges as a “born baker and a born eater”, making her most likely also a born Bake Off host.

Hammond will be replacing host Matt Lucas who departed from the Bake Off Tent after joining the show in 2020, to dedicate more time to presenting Sky’s Fantasy Football League.

Host Noel Fielding will be joining her in the tent, alongside judges Dame Prue Leith and Paul Hollywood.

12 more amateur bakers will enter the tent under the beady eyes of judges Prue Leith and Paul Hollywood, hoping to win them over and perhaps even receive the honour of a Hollywood handshake. Matt Lucas and Noel Fielding are also back to present and pester the contestants.

The usual schedule sees the field narrowed down to just three bakers by week 10, at which point the finalists will battle it out in the hopes of winning the glass cake stand.

Swapping the Pink Palace for the equally glamorous Bake Off tent, Olly Alexander, Lydia West, Nathaniel Curtis and Shaun Dooley will be competing to see who can whip up the best festive bakes. 

This year, 12 keen bakers will be looking to impress the two returning expert judges, Prue Leith and Paul Hollywood. Enough perhaps for a hallowed handshake.

Meanwhile, Noel Fielding and Matt Lucas will be on hand to offer moral support and baker banter.

Here are the dozen vying for the crown:

The first episode will air on Channel 4 on Tuesday 21 September at 8.00pm.

The announcement follows last week’s teaser video captioned “Loaf is in the air... The Great British Bake Off. Coming Soon.”

Dramatically scored, the short video shows the tent pitched once again in the grounds of Welford Park in Newbury, Berkshire.

Noel Fielding will return to host with Matt Lucas, who joined the team for the last edition.

Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith will also return to judge the bakes, meaning the bakers will be competing for that all important Hollywood handshake.

The new series will have eight 45 minute episodes plus a one-off Christmas special produced by Talkback, the production company responsible for all previous series.

Sky has named comedian Greg Davies (Taskmaster) as the new host, a role held by the likes of Mark Lamarr, Simon Amstell and Rhod Gilbert over the years.

Noel Fielding (The Great British Bake Off) will return to the show as team captain opposite Daisy May Cooper (This Country), while Jamali Maddix (Hate Thy Neighbour) will feature as a regular guest.