Can’t get enough of “The Great British Baking Show” or celebrity chef Paul Hollywood’s dreamy ice-blue eyes? Well, Roku Original is doing you a solid one then because it just launched a U.S. adaptation called “The Great American Baking Show” with Ellie Kemper and Zach Cherry co-hosting. Kemper chatted with TheWrap about what really goes on under the big white tent, how she fairs in the kitchen and that “dirty secret” that everyone wants to know.
“The Great American Baking Show,” which currently airs on Roku, has Hollywood as well as famed restauranteur Prue Leith returning as judges for the six 60-minute episodes that were shot, surprisingly, in the UK. Kemper was thrilled to step in as co-host because she too is a fan of the show across the pond.
“It’s such a comforting, uplifting, light show with like real emotion. I think that’s why people connect to it,” she said, pointing out that it’s also a non-competitive competition show in which the bakers even help each other out when they’re in a pinch. “When something goes wrong with one baker, the rest of the bakers help. And it’s really a nice respite from the cutthroat, devious we see. There’s a time and a place for backstabbing,” Kemper laughed, “but not on a baker.”
The big question on everybody’s mind is what happens to all the goodies that are baked each day? Is it a free-for-all to grab what you can and take it home?
“The dirty secret is, yes, we get to taste everything,” Kemper said. “Oh, they didn’t really encourage us to do it on air. Maybe for, I don’t know, hygienic reasons, I’m not sure. But then when the cameras were off, we got to go to town. The producers or director or production assistants would ask if there was anything specific we wanted to try, which was all of it.”
She wishes she could say that the experience of being amongst these master bakers has sparked her to run to her kitchen and whip up something tasty… but nah.
“I wish I could say yes, but no. First, the cleanup, I don’t wanna clean it up,” she laughed. “But second, I know myself. Yeah. I’m not a precise person. I would inevitably mess up the recipe and then I’d get angry. Whoever was closest to me would be yelled at at that moment. You need to be a little bit calm. I think you either have that temperament or you don’t.”
“The Great American Baking Show” is currently streaming on Roku Channel.
