Is 'The Great British Baking Show' Leaving Netflix? Did It Tank the Technical?

The Great British Baking Show, or The Great British Bake Off (GBBO) in the U.K., is the perfect show to watch as you're falling asleep. It's ideal to have on as background noise when you're finally trying to tackle some long put off cleaning. And if you're in the mood for unrelenting kindness to wash over you after a bad day, pop on some GBBO. What would we watch if the show was removed from Netflix? So, is The Great British Baking Show leaving Netflix? No thanks to this!

Thankfully, most of The Great British Baking Show will still be available to stream on Netflix. Sadly, starting Jan. 1, 2022, we'll lose the first 10 episodes of the show called The Great British Baking Show: The Beginnings. Previously on PBS before being snagged by Netflix in 2018, it featured judge Mary Berry, as well as hosts Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins, all of whom have since exited the show.

We'll still be left with the flagship episodes. Currently, those consist of Collections 1 through 9, with Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith as judges, and Noel Fielding with Matt Lucas as host. In more great news, Channel 4 and Love Productions, who produce GBBO, just extended the license of the show through 2024.

Of course, there are no guarantees the new episodes will end up on Netflix, but America is pretty sweet on the show — no need to sour the deal now! Ian Katz, the chief content officer at Channel 4 said in a press release, "We are thrilled that Channel 4 will continue to serve up Bake Off’s unique combination of warmth, humour, and soggy bottoms for years to come. Bake Off is all about optimism, celebrating eccentricity, and bringing the nation together." Serve up? Okay, we see that wordplay.

There are reasons to love every iteration of The Great British Baking Show, but it's difficult not to play favorites with the original people involved. Mary Berry was judging the show with Paul Hollywood since its beginning in 2010. In fact, it was Mary who brought the phrase "no soggy bottoms" into the zeitgeist, and we're grateful for it.

Then in 2016, the show announced it was moving from the BBC to Channel 4. Mary, ever the loyalist, didn't want to abandon the BBC, saying in an interview with RadioTimes, "It was the BBC’s program, it grew there, so I decided to stay with the BBC, with Mel and Sue." Of course, Mel and Sue decided not to stay.

Mel and Sue were also part of the show from the very beginning, which is what made their departure so painful, yet they left for very noble reasons. They told The Guardian they were afraid the show was heading down a cruel path, one without boundaries. Essentially, they resigned because "it was not a kind show. They were pointing cameras in the bakers’ faces and making them cry and saying, ‘Tell us about your dead gran.’ So we had very stiff words about how we wanted to proceed."

Like Mary, Mel and Sue were also less than pleased about the move to Channel 4, finding out in a pretty hideous way, via a television news bulletin. "There’s no antagonism there. I just think, ‘If you’re going to let us find out that way [from TV], then we’re not really a team, are we?'" Sue said to The Guardian. As much as we miss them all, we can't get enough of that tent and those bakes so we, and hopefully the show, are here to stay.

The Great British Baking Show is currently streaming on Netflix.