Yahoo Finance Alice Fevronia's Bake Off Column: "What A Final That Was. I’m Not Crying, You Are!?"
What a final that was. I’m not crying, you are!?
The final is always a bit of a weird one when it comes to the challenges as there's never a specific theme. Paul and Prue could spring anything on the bakers, but you do know that the Showstopper will alway require multiple skills and baking techniques, so you have to combine everything you've learnt and perfected over the last nine weeks.
It’s just such a whirlwind for the bakers. They have lived a very strange existence for the past few months; every waking moment will have been spent thinking about baking, and suddenly it’s all over. When they call time on that Showstopper it's a very strange and overwhelming feeling. Weeks and weeks of preparation have come down to this. You spend four or so hours being incredibly focused and busy; doing what you have come to know so well in that tent, and then all of a sudden, that’s it. Over. It’s actually quite sad!
The final is the most stressful episode as this is the very last hurdle to overcome, and that cake stand is staring you right in the face. On the other hand, you can’t be sent home. Even if you have a complete disaster, you've still made it all the way through to the end of Bake Off. You’ve done every challenge and had every experience. Even if you don’t win, you haven’t really lost either. Or at least that’s how I saw it.
Poor Laura did have a few issues along the way in the final, but at the end of the day, she made it to the final of The Great British Bake Off, and nobody can take that away from her.
The final was so different this year. Normally, the three finalists walk out with their bakes to a sea of hundreds of people, including friends and family, plus there are food and drink stalls, entertainers, and even a helter skelter! This year, the bakers' families could only deliver a supportive message via a video, and the party was made up of the hotel staff and the Bake Off crew from the bubble. But somehow, this made it even more emotional.
In a year where nothing seems to have gone the way we planned, Bake Off still managed to deliver an amazing final and that montage sure did have me in tears. I’m not surprised – having worked with the production team, knowing their talent and determination, there was nothing that could stop them delivering an incredible series, not even a global pandemic.
Last year, my parents were coming back from a family wedding in Ireland and their plane was cancelled. I was so upset and stressed about them not being able to make it on time, but the producers simply got on the phone to every airline, got them on a flight, organised a taxi to pick them up and, I think in the end, they were actually early! The focus of the show is clearly on the bakers, as it should be, and the judges and presenters are great, but I hope everyone realises how much the crew gave up to make the show happen: weeks away from their family and friends – as well as young children – simply just to get the job done.
Last year, Steph and I knew that David had won as soon as the Showstopper was over. We didn’t need the announcement to tell us, so it never felt that tense waiting for the decision. He is incredibly talented and he thoroughly deserved to win. This year, it looked like it was very close, and Dave and Peter’s faces really did convey that they had no idea who would be announced as the winner.
I know everyone keeps talking about Peter’s age, but I really am so blown away by how good he is. I’m sure he will go on to do great things and I can’t wait to see what's in store for him next.
I dug out a photo the other day of a cake I made for my friend’s birthday when I was Peter’s age, and, well, I don’t think anyone would have shaken my hand for it, let alone Paul Hollywood…
Goodbye Bake Off, and thank you.
Like this article? Sign up to our newsletter to get more articles like this delivered straight to your inbox.
