THE The Great British Pastry Show is he preparing for his first ever All-Stars season? According to Kieran Smith, the show’s longtime creative director and executive producer, the team is “very interested” in making it happen.

Although it is in its 15th season and on the air since 2010, THE Great British Baking Show has never brought back its past winners for an All-Star season. The concept of seeing old fan favorites compete against each other has been popular on other cooking-based shows like Hell’s Kitchen, Top ChefAnd Ax.

Talk to Vulture In a recent interview, Smith said he and his team were “very interested” in a “true ten-episode All-Star series” in the near future. “I think the vast majority of bakers would participate,” he shared. “People would love to see how their favorite bakers from the past would perform. There’s something fun about crowning the ultimate champion at this point.

The Great British Pastry Show has previously invited former contestants for one-off vacations and charity deals, but it has never hosted a full-fledged All-Star season. Smith believes it wouldn’t take much persuasion to get the former champions back under the famous tent.

“The old bakers always like to come back to the tent, that’s what I’ll say,” he said. “Because they tend to think that when their series ends, I’ll never come back. So they have another chance. I don’t think we’d have any trouble getting them.

©Netflix / Courtesy Everett Collection

Over the years, the Great British Baking Show has crowned many popular winners including Nadiya Hussain, Peter Sawkins, Nancy Birtwhistle, Rahul Mandal, Sophie Faldo and Candice Brown.

Smith revealed that an All-Star season was first proposed in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, when the show created a quarantine environment for contestants to live in while competing.

“(The idea) had never been floated before,” Smith recalled. “At the time, we were wondering: ‘Is it really going to be difficult to recruit new bakers during this lockdown period?’ Isn’t it a safer option to attract returning candidates? That’s something people could really appreciate, bringing back those winners.

However, after realizing they could still audition new candidates via Zoom, the decision was made to move forward with new candidates. “Given that there was so little original programming at the time, it was a little better to do a series with new faces rather than going back to people we’d seen before,” Smith added.

As for who could potentially return, Smith said he thinks most of the past winners would be up for the challenge, although “one or two might not want to come back into the spotlight because of their nervousness “.

Smith pointed out that some of the show’s early winners were ones who might be more hesitant to return. “The level got higher as we progressed through the shows,” he said. “No disrespect to Ed Kimber, who won the first season, but the standard wasn’t as high as winning the tenth or fifteenth season. The things that we have identified as people’s abilities are much more refined later in the race.

The EP also gave his prediction on who would win an All-Stars season, explaining: “I would expect the ultimate winner, the champion of champions, to be someone who has won in the last five or six years . But you should never say never. Many of those who won went on to cook and pursue careers in publishing. They keep their irons in the fire.

Smith also disagreed with the judge Prue LeithWHO said previously An All-Star season was unlikely to happen due to past winners fearing ruining their reputations.

“It always remains the friendliest competition and the spirit of friendship and camaraderie,” he said. “We have bakers who have their moments. There’s a tiny bit of needling sometimes, but they’re there because they’re doing something they love in this tent. They’re not here to be super famous.

Would you like to see an All-Star season? The Great British Pastry Show? Which candidates would you like to see again? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.