The 40 rules all GBBO contestants must follow

October 19, 2022 by
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I admit that I am a GBBO junkie – I follow contestants on Instagram, watch the program religiously, and often bake recipes published when the shows air. So when I saw a link that talked about the 40 rules that all GBBO contestants must follow, I clicked on it almost reflexively. Most of them are obvious, but some were enlightening.

We’ll start with some of the “well, duh” rules – contestants are not allowed to have cameras on set, they must sign nondisclosure and release agreements, and they have to be available for a set time period. There are a few other housekeeping rules that were pretty standard for any reality television appearance, including the interview process. That process echoed my own experience of trying out for MasterChef several years back (I made it through several rounds to the on-camera interviews, but was not invited to be on the show).

A few items on the list were more interesting. While it’s not surprising that the production company pays for the ingredients, I was not aware that contestants are given a per-episode allowance and have to shop accordingly. One thing this list did not cover was when the bakers bring items to the tent themselves, which seemed to happen regularly in the pre-COVID seasons. Perhaps this is no longer allowed, or maybe the change has to do with differences between BBC and Love Productions.

I also didn’t realize that all bakers had to tell the crew when they are about to remove items from the oven. In retrospect it seems logical, but it’s one of those things you would not think about until it is pointed out to you. I was glad to see that contestants do not have to stay and clean up their own stations, although I do feel a bit sorry for the crew members who must tidy up after some of the messy contestants are finished. Which of these rules most intrigued you?

Category: Antipasto

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4 Comments

  • anya_sf  on  October 19, 2022

    I certainly never realized the bakers had to tell the crew when they were going to remove things from the oven. Hopefully there are lots of crew members standing by because sometimes there’s not a second to lose.

  • wester  on  October 20, 2022

    I think it’s a good thing they are filming in the weekends, it is not something the contestants “have to” do, it is something that makes it possible. My husband considered applying for Lego Masters (NL version) and one of the reasons he decided not to was that they were filming during the week, which means it would cost him a lot of free days.

  • Fyretigger  on  October 20, 2022

    One of the rules says that all the beauty shots of the baked goods are taken AFTER the judging has been done. This makes absolutely no sense, as by that point, the beautiful bake has been torn into.

  • Foodycat  on  October 20, 2022

    Edd Kimber wrote a really interesting piece on his experience in the show – he won season 1 and most of his interview process didn’t involve Paul because he hadn’t been cast yet. But he thought that the point where the interview tipped in his favour was when he talked about being a baker who had recently lost weight – he said all of a sudden the cameras were on him. And the interesting one that isn’t included in that piece is that each season there are a couple of alternates in case of last minute drop-outs – which I think is pretty standard, but it had never crossed my mind.

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