Lauren Klein Left 'Spring Baking Championship' Early, Preventing an Elimination

There are few things more universally beloved than a televised baking competition. Spring Baking Championship is the latest iteration of that trend, and the show is now on Food Network. The first episode of the show saw 13 bakers competing in a series of challenges to determine who should take home the grand prize.

Like any competition show worth its salt, Spring Baking Championship will send home a baker every week. In its first week, though, there was no elimination after Lauren Klein, a baker from New Jersey, stepped away from the show. Following the news that Lauren would no longer be competing, many wanted to know why she left the show. Here's what we know.

Lauren left Spring Baking Championship because she fell ill.

"I got sick and was unable to continue. I got a glowing review from Duff though and made my grandma proud," she explained in a comment on Instagram.

Fortunately, it doesn't seem like it was a serious illness, but filming for these shows can be grueling and stressful, and contestants have sometimes had to bow out when they aren't feeling their best.

We don't have any more detail on the precise nature of Lauren's illness, but she has wholeheartedly promoted the show in spite of her limited appearance on it.

Fortunately for the other contestants, Lauren's departure meant that no one had to go home during the first week of competition, which means that every other baker will get two shots to make a favorable impression on the judges.

As is the case with so many of Food Network's offerings, Spring Baking Championship has been providing a refreshingly low stakes competitions series for fans to enjoy since 2015. Of course, the season-specific nature of the show means that it can only air once a year, but there are other competition series to take its place through the rest of the calendar.

The show is available to stream on Max, and will be debuting new episodes throughout the rest of the Spring.

While there are plenty of competition shows that are hungry for our attention, Spring Baking Championship and shows like it are so appealing in part because we know that nothing all that bad is happening to the people who lose. It's also helpful to see some beautiful pastries and wonder how good they taste.

It's sad that Lauren had to leave the competition, but at least she can say that she competed, and because she wasn't eliminated, she can always tell her friends that she probably would have won. As is always the case on this show, though, the competition is fierce, and one bad day in the kitchen can leave you praying that you don't get sent home.

These bakers operate under tight deadlines, which leaves them almost no room for error. That's part of what makes Spring Baking Championship so exciting.