Twelve new bakers will be donning their aprons and taking their place in the shed when The Great Australian Bake Off returns for a fifth season from 8.30pm January 27 on Foxtel. Under the watchful eyes of judges Maggie Beer and Matt Moran, and hosts Claire Hooper and Mel Buttle, the bakers will take on a series of challenges to test their baking prowess, creativity, and skill.
After spending four seasons being produced by Fremantle Australia, BBC Studios Australia will be behind the 2022 series.
Mediaweek spoke to Kylie Washington, general manager and creative director of BBC Studios Productions about taking the reins for the first time.
Kylie Washington
“For the past four series, Fremantle has done a beautiful job in establishing such a good, high-quality production,” says Washington. “We’re very grateful and so respectful of the incredible four series that they did, so there was a lot of pressure in us picking up where they left off and pulling off a really good series.”
With 35 territories around the world now airing their own versions, Bake Off is a colossal format. Washington says that a lot of that comes down to the simplicity and cheery nature of the show.
“A lot of formats tend to evolve and change over time, and this show hasn’t. It just doesn’t need to because it’s so beautiful in its simplicity – there’s the baking competition, but it’s also the tone of it. There’s the incredible skill as well as that aspirational element, where you see and hope that the bakers do really well. It’s a real point of difference from other reality competition shows, and I think it’s just so sweet and it’s just so supportive.”
Matt Moran, Maggie Beer, Mel Buttle, and Claire Hooper
Finding the Bakers
When it came to finding the bakers to tackle the competition, Washington says there were a few things the team kept in mind.
“Always diversity, it’s really important to us to reflect modern Australia. Covid had really given an opportunity to a lot of home bakers to really hone their skills – and we just had a lot of really diverse people from different walks of life bringing many unique ingredients.
“In past series, it’s always tricky to find particular people – like male bakers, for example. But in this instance, we’ve been blessed. So diversity and big, unique stories that feed into their baking.”
When asked what it was about this season that brought so many more male bakers forward, Washington said there was a simple reason.
“Lockdown! While it took away so much, it also gave us a lot in other areas – surprising areas. That extra time we had on our hands, it was put to good use.”
Bake Off season five Bakers
Shooting through Covid
Of course, for all the time that lockdowns provided for people to perfect their sourdough starters and soufflés, Covid also resulted in some challenges when it came to shooting The Great Australian Bake Off.
“There were a lot of stressful meetings for weeks trying to work out ‘we’re shooting at this period, are we going to be good with Covid?’. You can’t shoot the show too far into summer, you really have to be out by the end of spring because it gets too hot when you’re working with cream.
“It was actually an okay show to be shooting during Covid because it already is a bit of a bubble. We knew that productions that could operate in a bubble were better off, but it was still a lot to take on.”
It wasn’t just Covid restrictions throwing a spanner in the works.
“We actually had to evacuate the shed twice. We had high wind and hail storms, and we took a bit of a battering. So we were up against it!”
Looking Ahead
Ultimately Washington hopes that the new series will provide viewers with both a balm for the outside world, and a bit of inspiration.
“I hope it is as successful as the last four series, and that it’s a great tonic to the stressful times that we’re in. People can sit back on their couches and return to a much loved series and get some tips – hopefully we don’t go into another lockdown, but if we do, we’ve got lots of recipes to try!”
The Great Australian Bake Off premieres Thursdays at 8.30pm from January 27 on Foxtel. Watch on LifeStyle and On Demand.