Matt Lucas unveils first bake on The Great British Bake Off and spills on filming process

Matt Lucas has unveiled the delicious first bake given to contestants on The Great British Bake Off 2020, but admitted it was "a lot of sugar" trying them all.

The comedian joins the show this year as host alongside Noel Fielding.

Speaking to Steph McGovern on her Channel 4 show Steph's Packed Lunch, Matt revealed: "The first signature challenge is Battenberg cake and I did try a sample of each of the 12 Battenberg cakes.

"I wasn't sick but I definitely never tried all the cakes after that. I enjoyed it, but it was a lot of sugar."

Channel 4 recently wrapped up filming for season 11 at a new top secret Essex location, thanks to the "mammoth sacrifice" made by the show's cast and crew to get the show filmed during a pandemic.

Viewers can expect to see 13 new budding bakers take centre stage in a bid to be crowned the star.

Speaking about the filming process for the series, Matt admitted that they did something no other production had thought of yet.

He said: "We did something I don’t think any other production had yet done. The makers, Love Productions, hired a hotel and we had a skeleton staff working in the hotel of about 25 people.

"Everyone who was working on the show lived in this hotel and the tent was put up in the grounds.

"It was amazing. We did things in the evening. I hosted bingo one night, Prue did a flower arranging class and Paul Hollywood brought his pizza oven and made pizzas for everyone.

"It was like living on a holiday camp."

Shooting began in July 2020 - three months later than the usual May start date - and the team worked patterns of two days on, two days off.

All we know at the moment is the filming wrapped up on August 19, 2020, and Channel 4 has said the show is “coming soon”.

Matt also told Steph how emotional he found the competition, and even admitted that some moments of the series made him "really upset".

He explained: "I would get very invested in it.

"I would have to go to my room after a baker was sent home and have a word with myself for a couple of hours because I’d get really upset. It was emotional."

*Steph8s Packed Lunch airs weekdays at 12:30pm on Channel 4.

*The new series of The Great British Bake Off kicks off on 22 September at 8pm on Channel 4.

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