A former Great British Bake Off contestant has revealed a moment that left him feeling “sick” before filming even began. Howard Middleton, who competed in the fourth series in 2013, shared his first impression of the famous white tent while speaking on behalf of Smooth Spins.
Feeling sick at the sight of the tent
Middleton recalled being ferried from the hotel to the tent in a minibus and seeing the structure emerge in the distance. He said: “It's interesting because you get two shots of it. So, we were ferried from the hotel to the tent in a little minibus, and you just see the tent emerging from the minibus, and it's at that point you sort of think, ‘Oh God, I feel a bit sick!’ That’s when it starts to feel real.”
Once inside, he described being overwhelmed during a tour of the kitchen. “When you actually go into the tent the first time, you get a tour, where someone explains how the ovens work and the hobs and everything around the kitchen. I just remember thinking that I hadn't understood a word that you’d just said because I was so in awe of actually being in the tent,” he said. “Even after the explanation, I still kept having to ask how to work the oven and the hob afterwards. It’s very overwhelming, and I did feel a bit sick.”
Meeting fellow bakers for the first time
Middleton also spoke about meeting his fellow contestants, revealing they only encountered each other the night before filming started. He explained: “Obviously we’ve all gone through the audition process, and you've met certain people along the way, but it's not until the night before you actually start filming that you know who's got into the tent. It may be that you've met one or two of them, or you remember seeing them during the auditions, but most of the time they're strangers, really.”
He added: “On the first night when you meet everyone, you can make up your mind about them. Sometimes people can be very loud if you are out for dinner or something, and you start to understand what they will be like in the tent.”
Changes in security and socialising
Middleton noted that contestants on his series stayed in a hotel further from the tent, whereas he claimed that now, due to security reasons, they stay much closer. He said: “And the security is much tighter than it was. We were free to go out for meals together in the evening, although, to be perfectly honest, you're so tired by the time you've finished a day of filming that you really don't want to socialise that much.”
He also shared a lesson from his experience: “We also realised that those of us who would be catching up at the hotel bar late at night - none of us made it through to the finals! So if there's a lesson to be learned, it’s don't go out the night before!”
The Great British Bake Off continues tonight at 8pm on Channel 4.
