New series, The Big Family Cooking Showdown, is expected to go head to head with The Great British Bake Off. Will it have the winning ingredients?
Bake Off Champ Nadiya Hussain is to host a brand-new cookery show on BBC2 along with fellow host Zoe Ball and cooking experts Giorgio Locatelli and Rosemary Shrager who will act as judges.
The new show is called The Big Family Cooking showdown and many will see it as the perfect rival to The Great British Bake Off which famously jumped ship from the BBC to Channel 4 last year amid a big furore.
The new series will see 16 families welcome Nadiya, Zoe, Giorgio and Rosemary into their homes where they will then have to demonstrate how good they are at rustling up favourite recipes under the watchful eye of the judges.
The family teams will then be whittled down by a series of challenges both in their homes and then in the studio kitchen.
Nadiya, who won Bake Off in 2015 said, “Family and food have always gone hand in hand and I’m looking forward to getting to know the recipes and traditions of the different families taking part. Having been through a food competition as an amateur cook myself, I know exactly how tough it can get and so I’ll be there for them, alongside Zoe, as the pressure really builds!”
Mum of two, Zoe, who has been a regular presenter of Strictly Come Dancing's spin off BBC2 show, It Takes Two, added "I'm not the world’s best cook as my kids will vouch but I'm learning so much from these families and from Nadiya! New recipes, top tips & some definite do's and don'ts, I can't wait to share this joyous celebration of family and cooking with everybody."
Renowned chef and new judge Rosemary Shrager added, "It’s wonderful to be meeting families with their own recipes and to be judging good honest family food. We’ll be searching for a household where food is at the heart of their family, with kitchen duties and recipes shared between the generations.”
The new series, of 12 hour long episodes, will air on BBC2 this Autumn and will be aiming to pull in viewers just as Bake Off did. Over 14.8 million viewers tuned in to watch Candice Brown crowned champion baker for last year's series.
Bake Off presenters Mel Giedroyc, Sue Perkins and judge Mary Berry all quit the show when it was revealed it would be moving to the rival station.
Judge Paul Hollywood is the only one of the four who will be on this year's series of the Great British Bake Off as it makes it's debut on its new Channel 4 home, and he will be joined by cookery expert Prue Leith. The new presenters, replacing Mel and Sue, have yet be announced.
With the two shows looking set to be broadcast at the same time, let battle commence!
The Big Family Cooking Challenge is currently being filmed and will be on BBC2 this Autumn.
