Get the popcorn ready because Bake Off: The Professionals is back on our screens for its eighth season - and viewers want to know where it's filmed.
The Great British Bake Off spin-off show follows the search for Britain's best patisserie team, and this year the show has a new judge, Ted Lasso star Ellie Taylor, who will be stepping into Stacey Solomon's shoes. She will star alongside veteran host and ex-contestant Liam Charles, Benoit Blin, chef pâtissier at Raymond Blanc’s Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons, and Cherish Finden, a former executive pastry chef of the Pan Pacific London Hotel.
As usual, the latest series will see 11 pairs of professional bakers working together to create culinary masterpieces in a bid to win the cooking competition. And just like viewers want to know where The Great British Bake Off is filmed, fans are asking the same of the spin-off. Read on to find out more about the location, the judges and the contestants, as well as when the baking show launched and how long it takes to film.
Where is Bake Off: The Professionals filmed 2023?
Bake Off: The Professionals 2023 was filmed in Firle Place in Lewes, Sussex. Halfway between Brighton and Eastbourne, the beautiful Tudor manor belongs to the Gage family, who acquired it from the Levett family in the 15th century.
The luxury kitchen the bakers work in is actually a purpose-built set, built from scratch in the converted stables at the posh stately home. It takes a team around 10 days to set up the kitchens before the contestants arrive.
The stables, which are normally used for weddings and parties, have special insulation and temperature control installed to avoid any melted chocolate disasters.
There's an area behind the scenes that you won't see on screen - where all the washing up takes place. You also don't see all the camera crew working in the background to get the perfect shot of that delicious cake. And painstakingly, even when the bakers finish their creations, they have to wait another two hours before the judging starts, which is when the camera team get their best shots.
The show moved filming location to Firle Place in 2021, after previously being filmed at Welbeck Abbey in Nottingham. However, it's not the first time Firle Place has been used for filming. The 2020 movie Emma and BBC TV series Jonathan Creek also shot scenes there.
When was Bake Off: The Professionals 2023 filmed?
Bake Off: The Professionals was filmed over a 10-week period between April and June 2023, with contestants baking for up to 16 hours a day of filming.
There are ten hour-long episodes in total, and they air at 9pm on Tuesdays on Channel 4.
Oui, chefs! Meet the pastry chefs battling it out in the new series of Bake Off: The Professionals.Join @LiamCBakes, @EllieJaneTaylor, @BenoitBlin_MCA and @Cherish_Finden on Tuesday 4th July at 8pm on Channel 4. #GBBO pic.twitter.com/JQztNGjkSyJune 27, 2023
Who are the judges on Bake Off: The Professionals 2023?
The Bake Off: The Professionals judges are Benoit Blin and Cherish Finden. They are joined by comedian, actress and writer Ellie Taylor, who will co-host with Liam Charles - who was a contestant on series 8 of The Great British Bake Off.
Originally from Singapore, Cherish began cooking for her family at a young age and went on to work at some of Singapore's most prestigious hotels. After moving to London, she worked as Executive Pastry Chef at the Langham Hotel. In her first year in the city, she won 'Dessert of the Year', a competition that she now judges.
Frenchman Benoit has worked as a Chef Pâtissier at Raymond Blanc’s two-star Michelin restaurant for over 20 years, and has judged prestigious events such as the UK Pastry Open, UK and European Sugar Championships, National Chef of the Year, British Culinary Federation Chef Competition and the Master of Culinary Arts Finals.
Meanwhile, Ellie Taylor told Channel 4 ahead of taking on her new role: "They said: ‘Would you like the job?’ I said: ‘Is there cake? Can I eat it? Yes, please.’ It was a no-brainer. It’s a dream gig.
"Me and my husband watch the main Bake Off together and, although I hadn’t regularly watched Bake Off: The Professionals, I’d seen bits."
Bake Off: The Professionals 2023 contestants
The professional bakers will be competing in teams of two to impress the judges. Once again they'll be assigned different colours and go head-to-head in a series of baking challenges, showing off their technical skills and creativity in the hope to emerge the best baker in the all-important finale.
Let's take a look at the teams...
- Annie and Subin from The Dorchester
- Chantelle and Kasia from Glenapp Castle
- Andrew and Raf from Harwoods PatisseriesCaroline and Martin from Bisous Bisous
- Nicoletta and Georgina from Meraki Baking Studio
- Baking professionals Mustapha and Tracy
- Margo and Ally from Lexington Catering
- Baking professionals Martyn and Jenny
- Mauro and Daniel from The Landmark London
- Mayank and Dharma from St James’ Court, A Taj Hotel
- Baking duo Naira and Andrea
What should we expect from Bake Off: The Professionals 2023?
This year, the Bake Off: The Professionals challenges are bigger and better than before as contestants will have to push themselves to new heights of creativity and skill to make it to the final.
Channel 4 writes: “Family favourites bread and butter pudding and banoffee pie are reinvented in ordinary becomes the extraordinary showpiece challenges, while pavlova, peach melba and mille-feuille are reimagined.
“Themes include safari, archaeology, land of the giants, life of amphibians and reptiles and mad science. And, for the first time, teams are asked to create a fully suspended showpiece on the theme of take flight.”
We can't wait to see what kind of gravity-defying masterpieces the teams create!
How long has Bake Off : The Professionals been going?
Bake Off: The Professionals first arrived on screens eight years ago in March 2016 on BBC. The show was presented by chef Tom Kerridge, Benoit Blin, Cherish Finden and Claire Clark.
The second series was presented by Angus Deayton, and the third series moved to Channel 4 to join The Great British Bake Off after the BBC didn't renew the series. It was renamed Bake Off: The Professionals, after previously being known as Bake Off: Creme de la Creme.
In other news, we've got all the details on the new Great British Bake Off host Alison Hammond, and we've shared everything we know about The Great American Baking Show.
