The Great British Baking Show came back on September 16th, and, once again, the first couple of weeks have produced lots of hilarious and wholesome content (which has made this many people's comfort show). But no competition goes on without a hitch, and there were some pretty memorable contestant meltdowns when things didn't go right.
Rumor has it that some show hosts managed to prevent some of the biggest meltdowns to be shown (via The Guardian), with some even cursing when things don't go the way they expect, making some footage unusable. However, there were still some that managed to get on air.
Laura's Ice Cream Cake Debacle
Laura Adlington decided to make a chocolate-full cake for this '80s classic challenge, and she started off great. She had praline ice cream and merengue kisses, and it was looking great for her. But as luck would have it, people tend to forget things when they're under pressure, and this is exactly what happened to Laura.
Everything went downhill when she forgot to turn on the cooling function on her ice cream maker, and for nearly forty minutes, it was just "merrily churning" as she put it. The cake ended up being so melted, that it looked horrible (although the judges did say it tasted nice). This is why the best people at these kinds of competitive shows are always the most organized ones.
Ruby's Toppling Cake
Baking with vegan ingredients can be somewhat of a nightmare, and Ruby experienced this firsthand. Her cake turned out really wonky at first, but the true disaster happened towards the end when she tried to stack her two layers on top of one another. It resulted in one of the worst bakes on the show.
Ruby was stressing out in front of the tent, as Sandi and Noel tried to make her feel better. Sadly, the layers of the cake toppled over on the working station and all everyone could do was look from afar. The presentation was a mess, and even though the judges really liked the flavors, it seemed almost like salt in the wound to know Ruby could have had one of the best cakes if it held up.
Ian's Melted Cake
Although this wasn't his fault, Ian was disqualified because of it. He had his cake in the freezer when another contestant, Diana, removed it from the freezer and left it out. Many were furious and convinced this was sabotage. Ian was also so upset about the melted disaster that had a slight tantrum, and he threw it straight in the garbage, to the dismay of other contestants.
Because of this, he had nothing to present to the judges, and he left the show in that episode. While he was understandably upset and discouraged, he might have salvaged something of his cake if he hadn't acted so immaturely. It was one of the cringiest scenes on the otherwise wholesome show.
Cathryn's Flying Dough
Cathryn had a justified meltdown on GBBO when she was practicing her strudel dough preparation. She was throwing it around while another contestant was encouraging her. But in a moment of carelessness, she let go of her dough and sent it flying onto the carpet.
She laughed it off, but it was obvious to the audience that she was devastated. She was so confused she didn't even pick up her dough - another contestant did that for her. Considering her dough looked amazing before it met the floor, her reaction was warranted. It was a rather sweet moment when the contestant that encouraged her to throw it apologized to her, and Cathryn replied "Don't be silly, you didn't throw it on the floor."
Danny's Pudding À la Carpet
One of the worst moments was when Danny dropped her fresh-from-the-oven puddings onto the floor (and her sneakers). She was trying to close the oven door while holding the platter with the puddings, and she tipped them just enough for them to topple over.
She barely had enough batter left, and even though she had four puddings that were unaffected, she was visibly upset and shaking. It's understandably hard for the bakers who are under a lot of pressure because of the time constraints and competitive nature of the show.
Amanda's Collapse
It was so heartbreaking to see this because her terrine pie looked beautifully decorated. When she took it out of the oven and tried to remove the tin, the pie collapsed, and the top separated from the bottom.
Poor Amanda had no idea what to do and enlisted help from another contestant, but watching her break down was absolutely saddening because of how much work she put into her showstopper. It constantly seemed like she was on the verge of success, but never quite there.
Clanger Down
It was Kate that dropped the clanger literally on its way from the oven. The competitor stood still for a second, before exclaiming "I've literally dropped a clanger," going on to say it was the worst thing that could have happened.
Oftentimes, the judges will demand a certain quantity of baked goods, especially during technical challenges, and if a clanger gets dropped, then that could have some consequences for the baker.
Custardgate
Howard's got to be one of the unluckiest contestants. Though having Sue's elbow print on his muffin was memorable, the most famous one was dubbed the "custardgate." It was the baking burglary that shocked the nation and the audience of the Great British Baking Show.
Debra, of course, took Howard's custard accidentally and was visibly shaken by her mistake. Howard tried to take it calmly, but his voice seemed unusually high-pitched when he assured the room "one custard's as good as another" and he seemed to be on the verge of tears. Of course, after putting effort into perfecting his custard, it wasn't fair for Debra to use it. However, the judges evaluated the custard separately, and it all worked out in the end.
The Fly Incident
One of the biggest baking disasters happened when one of the contestants was swatting away a fly, which resulted in knocking over a whole tray of someone's cupcakes (just as they were setting them down for judging). Interestingly enough, the meltdown did not happen because of the contestant whose cupcakes were knocked over.
In a truly showing moment of how wholesome this show is, Sura is on the verge of tears, knowing she caused someone's hard work to be destroyed. Instead of having a full-blown meltdown, they both accept that accidents happen, even if they both probably didn't sleep well that night.
Sugar Dome Of Doom
Crystelle was one of the best bakers in her series, and she proved that by making it all to the finale. However, when the challenge required them to make a dome made of sugar, she had some technical difficulties. She broke the dome four different times and was properly panicking because she was running out of time.
In the end, Lizzie helped her make the dome, and she got very emotional when thanking her. It was one of those disasters that had a somewhat happy ending because the judges liked the taste of her cake, and even though the dome wasn't perfect, at least she managed to present one.