Entertainment

Netflix acquires US rights for The Great British Bake Off

The show returns to Channel 4 next week.
The show returns to Channel 4 next week. The show returns to Channel 4 next week.

Netflix has acquired the rights to show the Channel 4 version of The Great British Bake Off in the US.

Last year’s series, the first to feature new hosts Sandi Toksvig and Noel Fielding and judge Prue Leith, will be made available on the streaming service on August 31.

The upcoming series, which begins in the UK on Tuesday, will be put online later this year.

The Great British Bake Off 2018
The Great British Bake Off 2018 The new series of The Great British Bake Off starts on Channel 4 next week (Mark Bourdillon/Love Productions)

Netflix will also show one future series of the TV baking competition next year in the US, where the programme is known as The Great British Baking Show.

The announcement was made in a release styled in a recipe format. 

It said: “Serves: 3 new seasons of The Great British Baking Show available in the US only on Netflix.”

Among the “ingredients” listed on the release were “one UK broadcaster Channel 4” and “a dash of Netflix”.

The Great British Bake Off switched to Channel 4 from the BBC where it was presented by Sue Perkins and Mel Giedroyc and featured judge Mary Berry for seven series.

Paul Hollywood reprised his judging duties following the show’s change of channel while Leith replaced Berry.

The PBS network has previously aired the BBC version of the programme in the US, which is made by the company Love Productions.

The new series will begin with a joke about Leith mistakenly revealing last year’s winner before the final was aired.

Leith, 77, was in Bhutan when she tweeted her congratulations to Sophie Faldo, hours before the final.

Fielding and Toksvig will dress as characters from film trilogy Back To The Future for the opening skit.

Hollywood has also confirmed that there will be a vegan week in this year’s series.

The Great British Bake Off returns to Channel 4 on Tuesday August 28 at 8pm.