The Great British Bake Off has become Channel 4’s most-watched show of the year, with 9.5 million viewers tuning in (after up to 7 days) to its opening show.
The revamped flour-kneading tournament, which was shockingly poached from its BBC1 home last year, is also Channel 4’s 4th-biggest show of the century (already) and the most-watched show of the week. Including repeats, this takes this figure to a chocolate-melting 12 million pairs of eyes – but some call that cheating.
The channel’s record for this century still sits with Big Brother, which drew an audience of over 10 million in its 2002 heyday, with a 2011 episode of Big Fat Gypsy Wedding not far behind.
Bake Off continues every Tuesday night on Channel 4, with new hosts Noel Fielding and Sandi Toksvig mixing up proceedings – with judges Prue Lieth and veteran Paul Hollywood returning to cast their eye over the contestants’ masterpieces.
Have you been tuning in – or has the format gone a bit sour? Let us know at @CelebMix!