The Great British Bake Off has given us staggeringly impressive bakes from legends like Nadiya Hussain, Candice Brown and Rahul Mandal. It's safe to say James Acaster won't be joining their ranks.
The Mock the Week comedian has learned a valuable lesson that baking just isn't really his bag in the worst possible way — by competing on The Great Celebrity Bake Off against Rylan Clark-Neal, Russell Tovey and Michelle Keegan.
In fact, poor James called his time in the tent “the worst experience” of his entire life at one point during Tuesday's (March 12) episode! That's how bad things went for him in just the first two challenges alone.
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"I've never baked before. Let alone competitively," he admitted. "This is the worst idea in the world!"
In case you think he was exaggerating, the celebrities were challenged to make topped flapjacks by the judges in the signature. Never mind the toppings, James's 12 Bakewell tart-inspired flapjacks turned out to be "more like soup".
"I started making it and had a breakdown," he admitted to the judges, before wishing them: "Bon appétit!"
Viewers were feeling some real kinship with him at that point:
Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith weren't keen on poisoning themselves, so they kept their distance. Luckily, James had his chance to turn things around in a cream horn-themed technical where he ambitiously tried to "deconstruct" the dessert genre.
James probably went a bit too far on the deconstruction route because he ended up accidentally scrambling the eggs in his cream.
"It's got scrambled egg," Paul complained during the judging. "I don't know what more to say about that."
Maybe James was on the wrong baking show? That's a theory one viewer had...
James once again decided to go the "abstract" route in the Showstopper round, when the celebrities were challenged to create holiday scenes out of meringue.
For his final bake of this charity episode, the comedian modelled his meringue on Kettering's premiere adventure park.
Unlike his previous disasters though, the judges liked it! Paul even called James' meringue "brilliant", but in the end, Star Baker went to Michelle Keegan.
"What a crock of nonsense," James jokingly complained.
It wasn't all bad news for the comic! As bad as things went for him early on, at least he didn't make a poo cake like Rylan…
The Great Celebrity Bake Off continues next Tuesday (March 19) at 8pm on Channel 4. To find out more about Stand Up to Cancer, or to donate, visit the website.
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Justin is a freelance entertainment journalist and writer. He first joined Digital Spy as a freelance entertainment reporter in 2010 and also worked as a sub-editor for the brand, serving as Night News Editor from 2016 to 2024. Over more than a decade, Justin has covered numerous major entertainment events from the US and has interviewed a wide-ranging group of public figures, from comedian Steve Coogan to icons from the Star Trek universe, cast members from the Marvel Cinematic Universe and reality stars from numerous Real Housewives cities and the Below Deck franchise. Justin has also been on the ground to cover major pop culture events like the Star Wars Celebration and the D23 Expo. He's written for titles across the Hearst network, plus the likes of CBR and Us Weekly.
