One contestant’s Great British Bake Off journey got off to a particularly tough start on Tuesday night, as they suffered a mishap that will go down in the show’s history books.
The bakers had only been set their first challenge when disaster struck Durham University student Henry Bird.
The 20-year-old contestant had made an intricate topper for his signature bake, after judges Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith set them the task of baking a fruit cake.
Working to a winter woodland theme for his decoration, he’d made a house out of piped royal icing to sit atop the bake.
And indeed it did look rather impressive after he’d finished making it.
However, the trouble came when it was time to then place it on top of the cake in the final moments of the challenge – and it doesn’t take a genius to work out what happened next.
Oh dear.
“The word infuriating does not sum up that feeling,” a disappointed Henry said.
As he took his bake up to the gingham altar to be judged, he added: “It was a hut, but now it’s a bit more a wreck. My hands were shaking.”
Host Noel Fielding attested its beauty, telling Paul and Prue: “It saw it! It looked beautiful.”
And while he’d suffered huge disappointment that he didn’t pull off his creation as he’d hoped, Paul and Prue actually ended up giving his cake the thumbs up.
What’s more, he then came top in the technical challenge, which saw the bakers asked to produce layered Angel Cakes.
Henry wasn’t the only one who had a bit of a ’mare during the first challenge though, as Michael Chakraverty cut himself, not once, but three times while preparing the dried fruit for his cake.
He was seen having plasters attached to three of his fingers before then having to wear a blue hygiene glove as he continued to bake.
But just like Henry, Michael also managed to turn a negative into a positive, with both his signature and showstopper bakes winning praise from Prue and Paul.
Meanwhile, the series also got off to a rather smutty start thanks to baker Helena and her ‘fairy garden’.
The Great British Bake Off continues next Tuesday at 8pm on Channel 4.
