THE Great British Bake Off has been accused of English bias as it was revealed that there will be no Scottish, Welsh or Northern Irish contestants in the upcoming series.
The 12 participants on the Channel 4 show revealed this week are all from England, with a quarter of them hailing from London.
It's not the first time the show has failed to feature any contestants from the devolved nations.
After Edinburgh finance student Peter Sawkins won the series in 2020, the following year's edition only involved English participants, with fans suggesting at the time it should be rebranded "The Great English Bake Off".
There were also no Scottish contestants in 2016 when the series was still broadcast by the BBC.
Now an SNP MSP has suggested there is English bias at play in the casting of the series.
David Barratt told The National: “There’s no sugarcoating it – the lack of Scottish representation here is the cherry on top of a litany of recent TV broadcasting decisions that will leave Scots with an unpleasant taste in their mouths. “Once again, England is getting the biggest slice while the nations are left fighting over the crumbs.”
The show is set to return to screens later this month on September 22 and will be the first year Nigella Lawson will join the panel following Prue Leith's decision to step down after nine series.
Paul Hollywood will also return to the panel alongside Noel Fielding and Alison Hammond.
The contestants include Hertfordshire marketing graduate Clara, West Midlands law student Mo, retired garment technologist Gary and project planner Shannon from Gloucestershire.
The other participants are HGV service centre administrator Danni from Dorset, drag king Gabe from the West Midlands, political economy student Moyin from Essex, paediatric doctor Yannis from London, hairdresser Tom from West Yorkshire, advertising post-producer Nikki from London, NHS worker Connie from London and accessibility coordinator Molly from London.
Channel 4 has been approached for comment.
