The Great British Bake Off’s popularity shows no sign of waning after it was revealed that 7 million of us tuned into the new series.
It will give bosses at Channel 4 plenty to smile about after they poached the show from the BBC last year.
An average of 6.1 million of us watched the first episode of the baking competition, which peaked at 7 million.
The figures are slightly down on last year, when the former BBC show launched with a blaze of publicity for the first time on Channel 4, with an average of 6.5 million.
The usual mix of charm, innuendo and show-stopping bakes were present and correct, but there was a somewhat unwelcome addition to Tuesday night’s launch show.
Prue Leith appeared to have a new catchphrase she’s intent on using this year, but it is really not catching on with fans.
The judge kept remarking to this year’s crop of bakers that their offerings were “worth the calories” as she offered up her critiques during the opening episode.
And for those watching at home - many of who were chowing down on delicious treats - constant chat about calories was not sitting well with them.
While the opening episode, on the whole, went down well with viewers, they did manage to find something else to complain about.
Bosses decided to break from tradition by kicking off the new series with Biscuit Week.
Ever since the show started back in 2010, the first week of the series has always been focussed on cake, and proving that people really will moan about anything, there were some lamenting the lack of sponge on their screens.
Meanwhile, last year’s winner, Sophie Faldo, has spoken out about the negativity she’s had to deal with since being crowned ‘Bake Off’ champ in an exclusive interview with HuffPost UK.
The 33-year-old said that life hadn’t always been “bunting and rainbows” since she won the show.
She told us: “The end point is always the same, it’s always that pressure that you feel going on… You just have to try and hope it doesn’t eat into you too much.”
