exposes

A former contestant from The Great British Bake Off admitted ‘I did feel a bit sick’.

A contestant on The Great British Bake Off has revealed a moment that left him feeling “sick”.

The fan-favourite baking competition has returned to Channel 4, with 12 amateur bakers hoping to impress Paul Hollywood and new judge Nigella Lawson, who has replaced Dame Prue Leith.

In the first episode of this series, the bakers were tasked with making Nigella’s stout cake and a self-portrait showstopper, and despite two creations collapsing onto the floor, no one was sent home after contestant Shannon had to quit the challenge halfway through on medical advice.

Ahead of biscuit week tonight, Tuesday 29 September, one contestant has recalled his own experience on the show. Howard Middleton took part in the fourth series back in 2013, but was devastatingly sent home during week six.

He’s now revealed that before filming even began, there was a moment that left him feeling sick. Speaking on behalf of Smooth Spins, Howard shared his first impression of the famous white tent.

He said: “It’s interesting because you get two shots of it. So, we were ferried from the hotel to the tent in a little minibus, and you just see the tent emerging from the minibus, and it’s at that point you sort of think, ‘Oh God, I feel a bit sick!’ That’s when it starts to feel real.

“When you actually go into the tent the first time, you get a tour, where someone explains how the ovens work and the hobs and everything around the kitchen. I just remember thinking that I hadn’t understood a word that you’d just said because I was so in awe of actually being in the tent.

“Even after the explanation, I still kept having to ask how to work the oven and the hob afterwards. It’s very overwhelming, and I did feel a bit sick.”

He went on to talk about meeting his fellow bakers, revealing they only met the night before. Howard continued: “Obviously we’ve all gone through the audition process, and you’ve met certain people along the way, but it’s not until the night before you actually start filming that you know who’s got into the tent. It may be that you’ve met one or two of them, or you remember seeing them during the auditions, but most of the time they’re strangers, really.

“On the first night when you meet everyone, you can make up your mind about them. Sometimes people can be very loud if you are out for dinner or something, and you start to understand what they will be like in the tent.”

After their first impressions of each other, Howard shared that the bakers did spend time together when the cameras stopped rolling, though he admitted that his time on the show was likely different to now. Back then, the contestants stayed in a hotel further from the tent, whereas he claimed that now, due to security reasons, they stay much closer.

He went on: “And the security is much tighter than it was. We were free to go out for meals together in the evening, although, to be perfectly honest, you’re so tired by the time you’ve finished a day of filming that you really don’t want to socialise that much.

“We also realised that those of us who would be catching up at the hotel bar late at night – none of us made it through to the finals! So if there’s a lesson to be learned, it’s don’t go out the night before!”

The Great British Bake Off continues tonight at 8pm on Channel 4

There were rows aplenty on ABC sitcom Modern Family, but there was an even bigger one behind the scenes and Jesse Tyler Ferguson says the rest of the cast just got used to it

Jesse Tyler Ferguson says the Modern Family set could be an awkward place after admitting a show feud made things difficult.

The long-running hit show starred the likes of Ed O’Neil, Sofia Vergara, Eric Stonestreet, Ariel Winter and Nolan Gould, before ending in 2020 after 11 years. The much-loved programme featured three different but interconnected branches of the same large family living in suburban Los Angeles.

But it seems the feel-good ABC sitcom was hiding a secret – its two creators Christopher Lloyd and Steven Levitan didn’t get on at all following a huge fall-out, and it caused uncomfortableness behind the scenes.

Things became so strained that the writers’ room was divided in two, with duties alternating on an episode-by-episode basis between the two brains behind the comedy. Jesse, who played Mitchell Pritchett for more than a decade, says the stars learned to deal with the new direction.

“Basically, we had divorced parents leading the show,” the actor said in an interview with the Independent. “Our creators just decided to go separate ways. I thought it was a big secret that no one really knew about.

“It was like we had a week with this parent, and then a week with that parent. And we all just learnt that that’s how it works.

“It gave the show a really interesting balance that I think a lot of people didn’t even notice was happening – I still can’t believe after 11 seasons that the show was as successful as it was, with that sort of division of power, really.”

The comedy ran for an impressive 250 episodes, and many of its actors have gone on to enjoy a lot of success.

Jesse enjoyed a successful theatre career before joining the cast of Modern Family, where he earned several Emmy nominations alongside his on-screen husband Cameron Tucker.

Aside from the ABC show, he has appeared as a guest judge on So You Think You Can Dance from 2011 to 2013 and hosted Extreme Makeover: Home Edition in 2020. He has also landed roles in High School Musical: The Musical: The Series and 2023 disaster film Cocaine Bear.

The star also won his first Tony for his performance in the Broadway revival of Take Me Out in 2022.

His on-screen love Cameron Tucker , played by Eric Stonestreet, tied the knot with fiancée Lindsay Schweitzer on his birthday last year.

The longtime couple announced the incredible news in a series of photos shared on Instagram.

Before the shoe Eric was known for his role as Ronnie Litre on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. He has also appeared in films like 2011’s Bad Teacher and 2013’s Identity Thief.

Since the show, Stonestreet has portrayed Magnus Antas on Disney+’s The Santa Clauses and also took up a hosting role on the Fox competition series Domino Masters.

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