The next season of “The Great British Bake Off” will cancel weeks of citizenship-themed challenges following intense criticism that the round was culturally insensitive.
The hit show will return to a more traditional format for its 13th season airing next week — succumbing to complaints from fans that the show leaned toward casually racial stereotypes in previous years.
“We don’t want to offend anyone but the world has changed and the joke has become volatile,” executive producer Kieran Smith admitted to The Guardian.
“We are not making any national themes this year.”
“GBBO” — known as Collection 10 on Netflix and titled “The Great British Baking Show” in the US due to copyright issues involving Pillsbury — has included a nationally themed week each season for the past three years.
Despite criticism following the plans for “Japan Week” in 2020 and “Germany Week” in 2021, fans rebelled against “Mexico Week” last year.
“The Great British Bake Off” will not have a citizenship-themed week in its upcoming 13th season.realmattlucas/Instagram
Hosts Noel Fielding and Matt Lucas — both white Britons — were slammed for wearing sombreros and maracas and mispronouncing Spanish words.
The episode saw contestants make tacos, which some viewers described as butchering the famous dish, while others complained that the show veered away from its grilling premise towards cooking.
In an effort to hit two birds with one stone, the creators of “GBBO” will replace the culturally insensitive citizenship week with a Party Cakes challenge, according to Smith.
Season 13 will also feature its classic week: Cakes, Cookies, Bread, Patisserie and Chocolate.
“We carefully chose this year’s challenges to be approachable,” said celebrity chef and “GBBO” judge Paul Hollywood.
“In a way, we’ve gone back to the philosophy of the first three series. There are some beautiful classics and it has been a huge success.”
In the immediate aftermath of the citizenship week criticism, Hollywood said he based the challenge on what he saw on a recent trip to Mexico rather than tired stereotypes.
Celebrity chef and “GBBO” judge Paul Hollywood, bottom left, said the new season will be “approachable.” noel_fielding/Instagram
Fellow judge Dame Prue Leith applauded the response, saying that “the idea that we are aiming to insult anyone is absurd.”
In another twist, the show announced in December that Lucas would be leaving his hosting duties after three seasons on the show.
The comedian – who appeared on “GBBO” for only three years the national weekly challenge was featured – cited his departure for scheduling conflicts.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
