The BBC have agreed to alter the air time for The Big Cooking Family Showdown after it emerged that it would compete with The Great British Bake Off, which will now air on Channel 4.
The new series of Bake Off is due to premiere on the 29th August at 20:00 BST following the show’s controversial move from the BBC. It was set to compete with the Bake Off BBC replacement, but The Big Cooking Family Showdown will now instead air on Thursdays instead of the Tuesday slot.
Several BBC sources commented that the movement from a Wednesday to Tuesday stating: “Channel 4’s decision to move Bake Off from its long-term traditional Wednesday slot will be a surprise to many viewers who may see this as a cynical move. We never intended for our new cookery show to clash with theirs.” They continued to add: “There is room for both and we don’t, in this instance, see any public value in two public service broadcasters going head to head in this way.”
Unsurprisingly senior Channel 4 sources have moved to deny this. A statement from the company read: “We made the decision about where to schedule The Great British Bake Off a few months after acquiring it and we haven’t moved it since then. It is in the original Tuesday evening slot where the majority of past series have played.”
Paul Hollywood is the only remaining member of the original GBBO team, which instead features Prue Leith as fellow judge and Noel Fielding and Sandi Toskvig as hosts. In contrast Family Showdown will feature original hosts Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins, with Mary Berry returning to judge alongside former Bake Off winner Nadiya Hussain, presenter Zoe Ball, TV cook Rosemary Shrager and chef Giorgio Locatelli.
Check out the trailers for the two new shows below:
