'Bake Off' bubble bursts for first series 11 contestant

(L-R) Hermine, Sura, Rowan, Marc, Laura, Linda, Mak, Dave, Loriea, Lottie, Mark and Peter.
(L-R) Hermine, Sura, Rowan, Marc, Laura, Linda, Mak, Dave, Loriea, Lottie, Mark and Peter.

The Great British Bake Off has sent its first contestant home from the series 11 bubble after a debut week that saw the show’s stars quarantined together.

Loriea was the unlucky person to be voted out of the series in week one, a cake week that was full of drama with dropped bakes and collapsing edible sculptures, while Peter won Star Baker.

Bakers in this series of the hit Channel 4 show have had to commit to the contest like never before, as they had to form a bubble with their competitors, judges and production crew for six weeks to comply with covid social distancing rules.

Read more: Bake Off’s biggest controversies

No one ever wants to be the first to leave the tent, but bakers were even more reluctant to be voted out this year after such an intense start to the series.

Loriea took on challenges including a Battenberg signature bake, a pineapple-upside-down technical challenge, and a showstopper that saw bakers create busts of their celeb heroes out of cake - with mixed results.

The show was 15 minutes late starting tonight thanks to the Prime Minister’s latest covid announcement, but Bake Off had the perfect opening trick up its sleeve with a skit of new presenter Matt Lucas as Boris Johnson making a bumbling cake-related speech.

Lucas was a popular choice with fans, who warmed to his sense of humour and obvious enthusiasm for the show.

However, week one wasn’t without drama as the pineapple-upside-down challenge lived up to its name when Sura accidentally knocked Dave’s efforts to the floor while trying to swat a fly away from the table.

The celebrity cake busts also featured a collapsing Sir David Attenborough, a squashed Freddie Mercury, and some last-minute changes to Marie Antoinette’s choux bun hairdo, with her creator Rowan commenting: “It wasn’t quite what I had planned, but then what is.”

You could say the same about Bake Off series 11, but in a year that has seen cancellations and postponements galore, we’re just happy to finally be back in the tent.

The Great British Bake Off continues on Tuesdays at 8pm on Channel 4.