From the start, the series was the ultimate comfort watch (Picture: Channel 4 / Mark Bourdillon / Love Productions)

Soggy Bottoms. Handshakes. Touching moments.

For fans of The Great British Bake Off (GBBO) since it launched in 2010, the yearly competition never fails to bring us inordinate amounts of joy.

From the start, the series was the ultimate comfort watch, thanks to the incredibly wholesome amateur bakers who entered the tent, and the twinkly starpower of famous faces like Dame Mary Berry.

Despite the move from the BBC to Channel 4 being highly divisive, Bake Off, for me, instantly proved that it could still deliver talent and entertainment to boot, boasting new hosts and a new judge to join Paul Hollywood, who’d stayed on since the start. 

That’s despite missteps like the show’s short-lived and controversial themed weeks, like ‘Mexican Week’, challenges that were impossible, and unnecessary and eye-roll inducing comments about calories by Prue Leith.

Even through all that, loyal fans like me still get a weekly kick out of watching. 

But there appear to be fewer and fewer of us. 

The ratings for last night’s final saw 4.38million viewers tune in, down from over 5m last year. 

That’s also significantly less than the 14.9million people who watched the final episode on the BBC. 

But I want to make an appeal to those who have decided to give the show a miss to realise the mistake that they’ve made and return to the fold in 2024.

The ever-creative Dan fell at the final hurdle (Picture: Channel 4 / Mark Bourdillon / Love Productions)

Firstly, because Channel 4 *is* listening, and has made positive changes this year. 

Initially, by taking the challenges back to the basics, rather than trying to fix something that wasn’t broken in the first place by introducing overly-complicated and sometimes culturally-questionable themed weeks.

Next, following Matt Lucas’ departure, calling on a bona fide national treasure to take his place as the co-presenter alongside Noel Fielding – the incomparable Alison Hammond.

That recipe for turning over a new leaf on Bake Off definitely appeared to work, as the season has been a pure delight – as anyone who watched it can attest.

However, there just doesn’t seem to be that same buzz around Bake Off as there used to be, such as back in 2015 when Nadiya Hussain’s tearful celebrations won over the hearts of the nation.

I used to have lots of friends I’d be able to discuss all things cakes and biscuits with but fewer and fewer seem to be giving the show the time of day.

And sadly, they’ve missed out on one of the best series of Bake Off in recent years.

I don’t see the show going anywhere anytime soon – for those who do watch it, it’s still the epitome of a delicious, fluffy sponge cake covered in icing and sprinkles in televised form.

And for those who don’t – you are truly missing out.

This year’s final had me welling up as underdog Matty, who was always extremely keen to learn and sometimes even came close to being on the chopping block, managed to secure the win.

The ever-creative Dan fell at the final hurdle when his last few bakes didn’t pay off, while Josh – possibly the biggest Bake Off and Paul Hollywood fan of the lot – lacked the flavours and finesse in a showstopper that could have earned him the victory.

Matty’s humility, the reveal that he didn’t even apply to go on the show himself, his frequent shoutouts to his fiancée Lara and how he pretty much always had a smile on his face made fans fall in love with him from the start.

While Josh might have seemed like the obvious winner to some viewers, Matty pulled it out of the bag when he needed to the most – and as the judges decided on the result based solely on the final week, he was eventually declared the winner.

And a deserved one.

On top of all of that, the return of every baker from this series to celebrate the finalists in the last episode was heartwarming to say the least. 

From Tasha, who made history as the first Deaf contestant and narrowly missed out on a spot in the final, to Saku, whose cheerful demeanour lit up the tent, it was a blast to see them all back.

Let’s just hope that word of mouth and the need for uplifting TV to distract from the stresses of everyday life will be enough to reinvigorate the Bake Off fanfare next year – because there’s lots of entertainment for fans old and new.

And plenty of soggy bottoms.

The Great British Bake Off is available to watch on Channel 4.

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There appear to be fewer and fewer of us watching.