Great British Bake Off 2016

liam7831

Thought standard was poor compared to other years, Candice not very likeable

TheRiverman

livedadream wrote: »

delighted for her i did love jane form the start but candice was a solid winner

And she has a Pug:):)

RosyLily

Val's going to Ayia Napa. Of course she is!:D

No surprises in the final, except for the raw pastry incidents. They went for bulk baking instead of actual showstoppers imo. I would have preferred if they baked less items and went for spectacular.

I'm going to miss it on BBC.:(

Elliott S

appledrop wrote: »

I have to say this is a very disappointing final. How can you be the GBBO winner if you can't even make a sausage roll or simple tart. I think it's a crap choice of bakes for the final. In other weeks we have had amazing show bakes. You want something outstanding for final not boring picnic food.

Agreed. A very underwhelming series. We were spoiled with the likes of Nadiya and Ian last year, innovative bakers but with excellent classical skills. And other seasons had a few of them. This year has been so under par.

Candice won't get as many opportunities as Nadiya, I think. She's just not very likeable even though her win was very fair.

Elliott S

Humour Me wrote: »

Love the catch up at the end, Vals off to Aiya Napa

RosyLily wrote: »

Val's going to Ayia Napa. Of course she is!

She'll get baked over there alright!

ibarelycare

I warmed to Candice tonight. She came across a lot more humble, and seemed genuinely shocked and delighted to win. She was head and shoulders above the other two and she had improved so much from the start of the series. Definitely a lower standard than previous years though. Sad it's the end of GBBO as we know it!

liam7831

ibarelycare wrote: »

I warmed to Candice tonight. She came across a lot more humble, and seemed genuinely shocked and delighted to win. She was head and shoulders above the other two and she had improved so much from the start of the series. Definitely a lower standard than previous years though. Sad it's the end of GBBO as we know it!

Bit like The Apprentice imo, getting old and boring. Wont miss it

RhubarbCrumble

I really can't understand all the hatred towards Candice. I was hoping Andrew would win it but to be fair about it, Candice was definitely the best on the day and has been pretty consistent throughout.

ncmc

Very poor series all in all. The standard was way below previous years. To have three finalists who can't even make a Victoria sponge, sausage rolls or custard cream tarts, I mean it's laughable. I don't remember any previous series with so much raw pastry and soggy bottoms in the final weeks!

That said, I think Candice was a deserving winner. She was the most inventive and adventurous. She was the only one who really pushed the boat out and challenged herself. Though I would have loved to see Andrew do it.

Water John

May be the judges put up the tasks, which were relativley simple, Victoria sponge etc, in consideration of the talent at their disposal.

Elliott S

ibarelycare wrote: »

She was head and shoulders above the other two

She wasn't really, it was all very even going into the last round. The competition was still wide open at that stage. Jane shaded her in the signature (the handclasp rather than handshake) and it was very tight between her and Jane in the technical challenge. If Jane hadn't undercooked that one thing, I think it would have been hard to choose between them. Nadiya had it sown up after the first two rounds in last year's final.

And throughout the show, Candice had more of a rollercoaster ride, whereas Jane was much more consistently good to great with only one really bad week.

Water John

Nadiya is a once off and has us all spoilt.

jimd2

Elliott S wrote: »

She wasn't really, it was all very even going into the last round. The competition was still wide open at that stage. Jane shaded her in the signature (the handclasp rather than handshake) and it was very tight between her and Jane in the technical challenge. If Jane hadn't undercooked that one thing, I think it would have been hard to choose between them. Nadiya had it sown up after the first two rounds in last year's final.

And throughout the show, Candice had more of a rollercoaster ride, whereas Jane was much more consistently good to great with only one really bad week.

Are you seriously suggesting that Jane won the signature was demonstrated by the hand clasp? Paul completely dismissed that idea during the programme.

My wife is a very good baker and she reckoned Candice's was better. I would agree that it was tight in the technical challenge but Candice won the last round the Royal picnic by a country mile.
So Candice was the clear winner having won one round outright, at least joint winner of a second and second to the person that came last in other rounds in the technical. So a very clear and worthy winner, it wasn't in doubt for a second.

I personally believe that Candice is more 'marketable' than Nadiya from last year and the producers should consider her for one of the roles being vacated by Sue and Mel. She has the baking knowledge and is funny and could be moulded into the Mel / Sue role. So here's hoping we see a lot more if her.

Mr.Prodston

Candice was the strongest overall for the 10 weeks and in the final. Well deserved, although I felt for Andrew when those bottoms were soggy.

I didn't understand the dislike of Candice at all. I thought she was lovely and always tried to push the boat out without a hint of arrogance or anything.

I'll miss Mel and Sue and the BBC. But if Richard Ayoade did become the presenter then that's something I'd wholeheartedly get behind

I'll look forward to Mary Berry's Jolly Good United Kingdom Baking Quest of Excellence presented by Mel and Sue as a rival show!

Elliott S

jimd2 wrote: »

Are you seriously suggesting that Jane won the signature was demonstrated by the hand clasp? Paul completely dismissed that idea during the programme.

I am indeed. Did he say that in this episode? I don't remember that. If he did say that, based on all the times he has doled out the handshake, I don't believe him. He's a bit of a drama queen, so I'd take him saying that with a pinch. Anytime he has given the handshake, the person who got it was the clear winner in that round. So yes, based on what I saw tonight and the handshake precedent he has set, I took from it that Jane's was his favourite from that round. Appearance-wise, it was mine too. I actually thought Candice's looked messy.

Once the final round offerings were tasted, it was clear who had won, but it wasn't clear at all heading into the final round. It was still wide open at that stage. Much different to last year when Nadiya owned the entire final.

If anyone is getting more telly work from this series, it's Selasi! Candice wishes she was as funny as Mel and Sue.

dixiefly

Elliott S wrote: »

I am indeed. Did he say that in this episode? I don't remember that. If he did say that, based on all the times he has doled out the handshake, I don't believe him. He's a bit of a drama queen, so I'd take him saying that with a pinch. Anytime he has given the handshake, the person who got it was the clear winner in that round. So yes, based on what I saw tonight and the handshake precedent he has set, I took from it that Jane's was his favourite from that round. Appearance-wise, it was mine too. I actually thought Candice's looked messy.

It was a query from Mel / Sue asking if the double clasp had indicated that Jane had won the round and Paul said a straight up No.

Elliott S

dixiefly wrote: »

It was a query from Mel / Sue asking if the double clasp had indicated that Jane had won the round and Paul said a straight up No.

Well then, as said, I don't believe him! :P He was just being contrary. Anytime it has happened before that I have seen, the recipient was the clear winner of the round. It's like when they sit around and have the discussion about potential winners and losers each episode. Sometimes the winners/losers are so obvious but they still demur or pretend that they have a bit of deliberation to do. And Paul is definitely the most 'reality TV' of the lot of them and more inclined to try and introduce suspense to the proceedings. (which is why it didn't surprise me that he is making the move to Ch4.) So him saying that is definitely something I'd take with a pinch.

philstar

Mr.Prodston wrote: »

I didn't understand the dislike of Candice at all. I thought she was lovely and always tried to push the boat out without a hint of arrogance or anything.

either do i,

is it the fact she was too pretty?

Cathmandooo

Well done to Candice, she deserved it!

Loved the whole series, I actually liked that no one was perfect and had soggy bottoms even in the final. That was enormous pressure to make all of that in 5 hours :eek: I'm watching the Great British Menu with Michelin star chefs and even they hand up undercooked / raw / overcooked things. I thought it was more back to basics this year, I remember wondering in previous series how on earth they think of putting unusual ingredients into their bakes but this year seemed to be more on my wavelength that the likes of a bit of pesto makes something fierce fancy

It'll be interesting to see how it works out next year, sad to lose the format I love so much but I'm sure I'll still enjoy the next series

Elliott S

philstar wrote: »

is it the fact she was too pretty?

Hmmm, well Nadiya was arguably prettier. Actually, definitely prettier, I'd say, and was an incredibly popular winner. Do YOU think people dislike Candice due to prettiness?

Elliott S

This wouldn't have changed the result but it slightly irked me that they underplayed the obviously slightly burnt pastry on Candice's sweet pastries last night. But still, slightly burned is preferable to underdone or just plain raw!

Water John

They were like an Irish steak, 'well done'.

alchemist33

Elliott S wrote: »

Hmmm, well Nadiya was arguably prettier. Actually, definitely prettier, I'd say, and was an incredibly popular winner. Do YOU think people dislike Candice due to prettiness?

I think that happens most years.

Tasden

Elliott S wrote: »

Hmmm, well Nadiya was arguably prettier. Actually, definitely prettier, I'd say, and was an incredibly popular winner. Do YOU think people dislike Candice due to prettiness?

And Benjamina was absolutely stunning and I wanted her to win.
Candice was just very confident which sometimes crossed over into arrogance imo. Whereas someone like benjamina was equally as good, if not better, and confident in her ability but never appeared arrogant.
Perhaps candice's face is just more expressive and when she is feeling proud it looks more smug than happy/proud, and that's obviously not her fault! She also tried very hard with innuendos which irritated .e because the whole GBBO for me is about feigning innocence with innuendos etc. not just blatant trying to be funny and dirty for the sake of it. Minor irritation, didn't keep me up at night or anything :pac: But they are what I noticed about her. Also selasi was a babe and I wanted him to win too even though he lacked the ability in reality.

cruizer101

Never really got all the hate for Candice myself, I think alot of people disliked her based on her pouty lips which is mad but there you go, personally I never really really warmed to Nadiya last year, but in both cases I think the right person won.
Also I think the picnic basket was a good test, it was a number of quite different types of bakes altogether, seems a good test to me. I'm also more a fan of savoury food so can imagine dessert lovers may not have enjoyed as much.

Elliott S

alchemist33 wrote: »

I think that happens most years.

Does it? Again, Nadiya was very popular and I'd consider her better-looking, though that's subjective. Candice just wasn't that likeable to many, not everything can be explained away as jealousy. Some people weren't keen on Tom, some weren't keen on Val. Why not Candice? Or anyone?

ahlookit

There was a lot of online backlash (maybe not on here) to Ruby a few years ago. And there was a teenage girl on last year or the year before who got online abuse too. It does seem to be targetted at young women, for whatever reason.

I think the best contestant won - she was always trying to do that bit more than everyone else. And the sausage rolls looked great!

Water John

The Extra Slice on Fri won't have Paul. I liked both Nadiya and Candice. There just different to each other. There is a good market for both, too.

wyrn

I was a bit disappointed with the final between the results and the showstopper.

I just could never warm to Candice. I don't know why, but it had nothing to do with her physical appearance. I think she just came across as a bit standoffish. I didn't like her obvious innuendos & how every so often she'd bring up her nan & how poor her family were in an emotional way. Now to fair, she wasn't too over the top on that. I think what puts people off Candice & Ruby was the fact that Paul was so obviously enarmoured with both. He never really gave either a hard time or harsh word.

Disappointed the showstopper wasn't 1 mad cake. I felt it was a bit too rushed to get through all the bakes. There was no WOW piece even though all the foods looked so yummy.

Candice deserved the win, she was the better baker on the day. Sadly I can't really remember any wow pieces from the series except Tom's questionable looking bread the standard this year was quite low.

Tasden

ahlookit wrote: »

There was a lot of online backlash (maybe not on here) to Ruby a few years ago. And there was a teenage girl on last year or the year before who got online abuse too. It does seem to be targetted at young women, for whatever reason.

I think the best contestant won - she was always trying to do that bit more than everyone else. And the sausage rolls looked great!

This sounds awful bitchy in light of my previous post but she's hardly young! She's not old obviously but I wouldnt have described her as young either.

HeidiHeidi

The standout memory for me was from Tudor week, Andrew's bake with the questionably placed swords - and Paul struggling to keep a straight face while describing it

pc7

The candice thing is nothing to do with looks for me. Now shows like this are heavily edited so can only take what we see on screen. i felt she acted coquettish with Paul to get him on side, played the poor me card and came across a bit smug. But she did deserve the win on the night.
I thought Ruby was stunning and a great baker to boot, so defo not a looks thing (I'm female)

ahlookit

Tasden wrote: »

This sounds awful bitchy in light of my previous post but she's hardly young! She's not old obviously but I wouldnt have described her as young either.

Maybe I should have said "younger women" ... ie she's from a different generation to Jane & Val....

Though maybe Val is younger than I thought seeing as she's off to Ayia Napa on her holidays. Here's hoping for a Nadiya style spin off show :pac:

alchemist33

Elliott S wrote: »

Does it? Again, Nadiya was very popular and I'd consider her better-looking, though that's subjective. Candice just wasn't that likeable to many, not everything can be explained away as jealousy. Some people weren't keen on Tom, some weren't keen on Val. Why not Candice? Or anyone?

Another poster above mentioned Ruby, which was the one I was thinking of. I thought during the first episode that Candice might get some similar views. Years ago when I watched the X-factor and similar shows (I saw the error of my ways), I thought the better looking women always seemed to get more negative views. Not scientific, I know, but if it's still running next year I'll make a prediction about this in the first week!

FWIW, I liked Andrew and Jane better, but I'd never say I disliked Candice.

wyrn

I just remembered Ian from last year. I remember he got a lot of backlash over being perceived as smug.

Birdsong

The class of 2015 is on the BBC now

Toto Wolfcastle

Birdsong wrote: »

The class of 2015 is on the BBC now

They were miles ahead of this year's bakers.

ibarelycare

Birdsong wrote: »

The class of 2015 is on the BBC now

Just watching it. The standard was on a completely different level to this year's!

ibarelycare

I didn't miss smug Flora though :pac:

PressRun

Best baker won in the end. Candice was the most creative and pushed herself to do different things. She had some nice personal touches to a lot of her bakes too, which was nice. Most importantly however, her showstopper was actually properly baked in the end. Andrew and Jane presenting raw pastry and collapsed tarts at the end was unforgivable for a final tbh.

Still very surprised at the amount of contestants on the show this year who didn't seem to know how to properly make British classics. You're on a show called 'The Great British Bake Off' judged by Mary Berry. Things like bakewell tarts should be well practiced and down to a tee. Yet Andrew was the only one who could make a good Victoria sponge from memory in the final and that wasn't the first time this series that contestants were caught out on classic recipes that they should really know how to make in their sleep. Many contestants seemed more concerned with extravagent flavours and whatnot at the expense of understanding the basics. Classic recipes are classic for a reason - they are very good. Anyone who calls themselves a baker should be able to bake a few of them well.

appledrop

I didn't mind Candice winning just wanted an amazing show stopper final not things that students learn to make in Home Economics. Her Peacock cake was amazing whatever week that was. That is the type of task that should have been kept for the final.

Just watching 2015 class here. I forgot how good last year was + how many of the contestants that I really liked.

Wanderer41

I caught the end of the 2015 show earlier. I forgot just how good it was! I was almost crying seeing Nadiya win again, and don't get me started on Mary getting teary! I remember being on the edge of my seat last year. Granted, I wasn't able to watch this year's show live until the semi finals, but I didn't think it was as good as last year. I really forgot how much I enjoyed last year's show. I'll miss it

Elliott S

alchemist33 wrote: »

Another poster above mentioned Ruby, which was the one I was thinking of. I thought during the first episode that Candice might get some similar views.

Ah, Ruby was pretty annoying with the wide-eyed, "Who, me?" thing. And has bitched about the show afterwards despite doing quite well out of it. Classy!

PressRun

alchemist33 wrote: »

Another poster above mentioned Ruby, which was the one I was thinking of. I thought during the first episode that Candice might get some similar views. Years ago when I watched the X-factor and similar shows (I saw the error of my ways), I thought the better looking women always seemed to get more negative views. Not scientific, I know, but if it's still running next year I'll make a prediction about this in the first week!

FWIW, I liked Andrew and Jane better, but I'd never say I disliked Candice.

I definitely think being a certain "kind" of woman carries negativity with it and some sections of the audience don't respond well to it, whether they admit/realise it or not. Sexy women, generally speaking, don't seem to go down too well with the viewership of things like the X Factor, for example. I think flirty or sexy women can be seen as a bit threatening or something. Nadiya might have had a prettier face than Candice, but she could hardly be regarded as sexy and she didn't have a flirty personality. She would definitely be in the "I could see her as a friend" rather than the "I could see her as a rival" category, if we were to simplify it like that. I seem to remember that Ruby girl drawing some people's contempt for being "flirtatious" with Paul (depsite being a lesbian, if I remember correctly). People see what they want and i find it funny how it's the flirty woman who gets into trouble for trying to sway the "hapless" man, rather than Paul for being so easily swayed.

For what it's worth, Selasi had a pretty flirty personality too but people don't seem to notice/care as much or they fall over themselves at the sight of him. Probably because he's a bloke, let's face it.

That all said, it's still possible that some people just didn't warm to Candice. She still deserved to win though, she was the best on the day, and anyone who begrudges her that probably has other issues with her that don't have anything to do with her baking.

pc7

Watching class of 2015, Wow they really were sooo good!

Elliott S

pc7 wrote: »

Watching class of 2015, Wow they really were sooo good!

I know! Paul's bread lion is still one of the most amazing baked things I have ever seen. And Sandy's biscuit box.

I forgot that Nadiya was close to leaving one week! :eek:

pc7

Watching extra slice, Jane looks amazing!!! Love her new hair.

Addle

Paul a no show.
Will miss an extra slice more than the bake off.

Turtle_

Missed an extra slice, but the Queen of baking was on herself just after. So comforting on a lazy Saturday evening.

Red Kev

There's a longish interview with Candice in today's Sunday Times. She'll be writing for them soon so it's soft enough. She talks about her pouting and her lipstick amongst other things.