The Great British Bake Off 2015 week 1 live blog

It’s a combination of Mel and Sue, cakes, Paul Hollywood and MARY BERRY! And who will suffer the horrifying soggy bottom?

It certainly puts the measly 2 million viewers that watched ITV’s rip off BBQ series last week to shame. Exciting and always different.

It comes after the first contestant was voted off the show.

Mary: “Could there be a nicer job than working with these three?”

In one such celebrity episode, Paul managed to get Lulu into a state of panic, merely by asking her a question. “I like to call myself more artisan, that might translate to “it may not be glamorous but it tastes good”.

Whilst trying to create some 1970s style Rum Babas, John managed to chuck a load of salt into his mixture instead of sugar. “Was it nuts?”

“When you actually get to chat to customers, it’s clear that the programme has had an obvious effect upon people’s palette – it’s far broader now”.

How are the contestants?

“They’re a fascinating bunch”.

Baking for charity is most popular among 25 to 34 year olds with 13% of them having baked for a good cause in the past 12 months.

‘I felt disappointed in myself initially after leaving in the first episode, as I felt I didn’t perform as well as I could.

“We don’t have anyone in the tent from Devon this year, as we didn’t last year, so I guess I am still the local GBBOer”. In 2010, Sherlock’s first series launched at the end of July. We’re expecting a zen bench from Ian and some stunning visual flourishes. Will Schichttorte be on the menu again?

“I don’t remember saying that”. There are some fiendishly hard challenges this year, but there’s also some basic ones.

If you get a character as flamboyant as Dame Edna Everage in the Bake Off kitchen, it’s never going to be plain sailing. We may also close comments on articles which are being targeted for abuse. “Mary was born then!” See you next week! Like these five scandalous moments from previous series… It’s how they cope with a bake going wrong.

“Top Gear is Chris’s and I think Chris will be great at it and I wish him all the best”, Paul said. But that’s the evils of social networking.

P: Ian, for instance – with the Alaska thing, he’s now sponsored by waste management [Laughs]. They encouraged me but in a no-nonsense way, and that suited me.

Paolo: “Noise is our biggest problem”. On the first day we were given a talk about the equipment.

Mobile phones must be handed in on a Friday night and there is a strict policy of no texting, taking of photographs or talking about the show with anyone beyond the four walls of your own home.

“A few years ago there was a lot of bake sales and charities were encouraging that over traditional sponsorship activities”.

Sue: “Oh yes, I did enjoy the badger-flavoured scones”.

And although some of the 12 bakers decided to stick to tradition with the zingy citrus flavour, others were a little more adventurous – adding seven shots of gin to the mix for a gin and tonic cake. If he does we’ll have to play more tricks on him.

And with less than a year until the Holyrood elections, we’re looking forward to seeing exactly what calibre of sweet treats the country’s finest political minds will produce alongside their manifestos to try and woo the voters. “Stole it and defaced it”. Paul was not impressed: “It’s burning my tongue”.

“I mean, you are what you are”.