When The Great British Bake Off premiered in 2010, reality TV was best known as a blood sport. Competition shows in particular existed to raise and dash dreams, mine traumatic personal stories and trade friendships for double-crossing alliances. Bake Off, on the other hand, was inspired by quaint English village fetes.
In the decade since, Bake Off has become one of Britain’s most-watched shows, and spread its sticky fingers around the world. Collectively we have consumed 14 main seasons (the latest one premieres in Australia on Tuesday), a children’s version, multiple star-studded holiday and charity specials and almost 40 international spin-offs.
