The Great British Bake Off’s legion of fans downed their cooking utensils and took to the keyboards to express their views on the latest developments in the show via the official Facebook and Twitter pages.
The reaction to the departure Ben was certainly mixed. In the sympathetic camp was Sadie South, who wrote: “Poor Ben, he was robbed because of his hot ginger nuts!” Sarah Dempsey also tweeted some advice to Ben – “don’t be sad, be proud.”
However, Benjamin Farrell commented that “Ben’s macaroons were a shambles” and that he “definitely deserved to go for that shrub thing”. Sarah Parris shared those views, feeling that “Ben was far too concerned with his display”. Lisa Wenyon added that there was “always an excuse that they worked before but not on the day.”
A significant proportion of Bake Off fans felt that one kitchen incumbent was fortunate to survive. “How has Rob managed to get so far when he is told he has messed up somehow on every single task he’s done?” questioned Hannah Miles. “Poor Rob never had a rolling pin. Now everything becomes clear,” quipped Simon Hall.
Jason’s comeback from the ignominy of his Signature Bake being slaughtered by the judges to the triumph of sharing the Star Baker accolade with Holly certainly caused plenty of shock. “Wow, Jason got first place in the brandy snap challenge!!” wrote a stunned Molly White after the baker impressed with a dish he had barely heard of beforehand.
Elsewhere, Jo’s distinctly flavoured biscuits raised a few eyebrows – and rattled a few stomachs. “Lavender in food = barf,” wretched David Anton.
“Had a lavender crème brûlée once and would have been better off eating an air freshener.”
“I love the history bits in the show,” praised Denise Sutherland, who also posited – “now there’s a marketing idea – “funeral biscuits”. Majella Kavanagh suggested “they should be relaunched!” That would lead to some morbid baking indeed.
The final word goes to ginandcrumpets, who observantly tweeted: “You can’t hide a bad biscuit from Mary Berry. She sees all. She knows all.”
You can join in the debate by following @britishbakeoff on Twitter and liking our official Facebook page.