Sue Perkins and Mel Giedroyc will not be returning to GBBO

It started off as a humble baking show on BBC 2 but has become one of the nation’s best loved programmes, with ratings reaching 15.05 million for the 2015 finale. It is, of course, The Great British Bake Off.

Image: Sandy Stevenson / Flickr

Widely enjoyed by people of all ages, GBBO has whipped a nation into a frenzy about soggy bottoms since 2010. The format, featuring a group of amateur bakers making desserts and suffering minor cake-related meltdowns, hardly sounds gripping viewing, but the programme has enjoyed flan-tastic success.

But now, sadly the programme’s future now looks decidedly unstable (much like the contestants’ gingerbread structures from Biscuit Week) as the show has been trifled with. The makers of the show, Love Productions, are now taking the format to Channel 4 and the much-loved presenters – Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins – will not be going with it.

Students would be able to watch the show on catch-up online without the need for a TV licence, unlike with the BBC

The BBC were unable to meet the upped price that Love Productions were asking for – £25 million – and have thus lost one of their most popular shows. The show being hosted on Channel 4 could mean less content unless the length of the show was increased, as the programme would be interspersed with adverts – breaking up the baking drama. However, students would be able to watch the show on catch-up online without the need for a TV licence, unlike with the BBC.

Across the country, people are ganache-ing their teeth in frustration at the prospect of their hour of baking bliss being interrupted by adverts, and the additional loss of the presenters is really taking the biscuit. There is no telling who will be a choux-in for their replacements as of yet, or whether Mary Berry or Paul Hollywood might also jump ship.

Whatever happens, it probably still won’t be as dramatic as when Ian binned his entire Baked Alaska in Series 5. That was in-tents!