Did anyone else find themselves sobbing throughout the first episode of this year’s Bake Off? The baking show is back bringing us sugary joy, and it just means so much more to fans during the time of coronavirus. 

All the contestants, who include NHS and charity workers that have helped us to get through the last six months, made the difficult decision to live apart from their families for the duration of filming. 

They did it in the name of bringing us soggy bottom puns and creative bakes in the tent – and that’s exactly what we need at this point in the pandemic. 

The iconic competition’s return also means that Bake Off fans on Twitter are back on top form. 

Let’s take a look at how viewers reacted to episode one…

The show opened with new host Matt Lucas doing an impression of prime minister Boris Johnson. Lucas did a superb job of mocking the prime minister’s mixed messaging throughout lockdown.

“We are now approaching Phase 56,” he said, “which means that from Tuesday morning, or Wednesday evening, depending on your height, we are saying in regards to baking, if you must bake in a tent, bake in a tent.”

Although we miss former host Sandi Toksvig, we can confirm that we are already fans of Lucas. 

One fan shared the video, captioning it: “What an opening to the Great British Bake Off and a sensational impression of Boris from @RealMattLucas!”

Another fan asserted how the varying results in the technical challenge – mini pineapple upside-down cakes – perfectly illustrated the state of things in 2020.

“Me looking forward to 2020 vs me looking back at it,” he wrote alongside the winning and losing bakes (the latter were literally dropped on the floor).

When the contestants were tasked with making a bust cake of their favourite celeb for the showstopper challenge, Twitter users had a field day. Louis Theroux, David Bowie  Lupita Nyong’o and David Attenborough in cake form were, quite frankly, terrifying. 

But Freddy Mercury was perhaps the celebrity cake that got the biggest beating on Twitter. One viewer even rewrote the Bohemian Rhapsody lyrics as a tribute:

“I’ve made my chouxs, time after time,

“I’ve baked my cheesecake, and flavoured it lime,

“And bad mistakes, I’ve made a few

“I’ve had my share of my cakes on the floor

But I’ve come through…”

This fan summed up everything for us, simply tweeting: “I think we can all agree that @BritishBakeOff was everything we all needed tonight #GBBO.”

The Great British Bake Off continues with the highs and lows of baking next Tuesday at 9pm on Channel 4.

Images: Channel 4