You've surely got to have nerves of steel to enter The Great British Bake Off, which pits the nation's greatest amateur bakers against one another.
Sure, many of you might be able to rustle up a nice apple crumble, but it's nothing compared to the show-stopping masterpieces we get to see from the contestants - especially impressive considering they all come from humble home cooks.
The official entry rules stipulate that you can't have any 'professional qualification in baking, cooking, food production, food preparation or catering, unless acquired over 10 years ago', or that your livelihood can't come from commercial baking or cooking in any professional environment, such as a restaurant, bakery or canteen.
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And even for those who make it onto the show, there's another set of stipulations to abide by.
There's one in particular that viewers have found particularly bizarre, after one spotted a 'gross' detail in the show - and it turns out it's something the bakers find equally 'horrendous'.
Last year, one viewer took to Reddit to ask why contestants wore the same outfit throughout the episode, despite the fact their comments suggested the signature and technical rounds are usually filmed on one day, and the showstopper on the second.
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“Seems that they do the signature and the technical on day 1, and the showstopper on day 2. They’ll say things like ‘I wasn’t at the top yesterday but I have hope for today,’ for example,” they began.
“And yet, they’re wearing the same clothes the entire episode. Do they do it all in one day, and just pretend like there are 2 days of competition per week? Or do they wear the same clothes both days? Do they have to have 2 of every outfit? Is there a team that desperately washes all their clothes overnight between days?
“All of the above scenarios seem so silly to me. I’m so confused. I hope someone knows.”
It didn’t take long for the internet to crack the confusion, with many referencing quotes from past contestants after they spoke out about it.
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“So they can film reactions and clips from both days and use them on either day,” one person explained.
“Otherwise they won't have enough clips of everyone to react to all the time calls, etc.”
The original poster replied: “That is so stupid haha. And kind of gross.”
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Indeed, 2020 finalist Laura Adlington addressed the topic in an Instagram Q&A with fans, having been asked about why the long-standing rule is in place.
She explained: “Just for continuity apparently.
“It was a right pain in the a*s having to wash, dry and iron your outfit after a long day of filming.”
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Contestant Selasi Gbormittah also admitted he’d felt ‘worried’ about the rule, especially after a busy day of challenges.
“Each episode of Bake Off is filmed over two days, meaning that after a long day of stressful baking you have to wear the same clothes again the next day – which brings with it a particular set of challenges,” he wrote in a 2020 article for the Metro.
“I was very worried about a sweaty day in the tent so would spend the evening after the first day of filming hand washing my tops in my hotel room sink with a bar of hotel soap and then dry them on the radiator overnight ready for the next day’s filming.
“I was a savvy banker and didn’t splash out on two of the same item of clothing.”
Season eight baker Stacey Hart also told Insider: "All these people in the stinky heat, can you imagine?
“It was a nightmare. It was horrendous. All my aprons were black. Totally black."
Thankfully, there’s one item of clothing they’re not forced to reuse on the second day.
“Luckily they change the aprons so we don’t look like a Jackson Pollock painting by the end of it,” 2013 winner Frances Quinn told Cosmopolitan in 2018.
“But even then you still have to wear what you had on, on top. Difficult. And everyone was always like 'Did you buy two of everything?' and I was like 'No, you're spending so much money on butter and eggs...’”
The glamour of TV, eh?!
Topics: Great British Bake Off, Reality TV, TV And Film, Food and Drink
Jess Hardiman