Spatulas at the ready! The release date for The Great British Bake Off: Stand Up To Cancer has been announced: Channel 4 will air the first episode on Tuesday 10 March. 

There are plenty of celebrity names to get excited about this year. The contestants will battle it out over hot ovens in the famous Bake Off tent to become Star Baker and win the competition. 

So, who’s going to be rising to the challenge or falling flat with their bakes? Enough of the oh-so-obvious puns, and onwards with everything we know so far… 

Which celebrities are taking part in The Great British Bake Off?

Documentary maker Louis Theroux will be competing to win star baker. Icing cakes and biscuits will be a far cry from Theroux’s new new documentary, Louis Theroux: Selling Sex, which aired earlier this year. He’ll no-doubt follow his self-penned mantra of “I gotta get Theroux this”. 

Theroux responded to the announcement in the most Theroux way possible: with his characteristic deadpan wit and self-deprecation. “Yes. I did this,” he simply wrote on Twitter. 

He then retweeted a piece of “Louis Therchoux” fan art and called it “genius”. 

Tan France from Queer Eye and Next In Fashion will also be putting his baking skills to the test. Unfortunately, he won’t have his foodie expert co-star Antoni Porowski on hand. But as France is a keen cook himself (check out his YouTube videos) we’re confident that he’s going to be one to beat. 

France also responded to the “most exciting news” on his Instagram, writing in a post: “I can finally share the most exciting news. I’m one of the bakers on the 2020 Great British Baking show, for Stand Up 2 Cancer!!!” 

Fellow Queer Eye stars Bobby Berk and Karamo Brown shared their excitement, replying with love heart emojis and writing “yes yes yes!” respectively. 

France and Theroux will join This Morning host Alison Hammond, singer James Blunt, EastEnders actor Patsy Palmer, The One Show’s Alex Jones, comedian Joel Dommett, former Strictly star Joe Sugg, reality TV personality Scarlett Moffatt and TV legend Carol Vorderman. And that’s not all. Comedian Mo Gilligan, actor Caroline Quentin, The Inbetweeners’ James Buckley, Love Islander Ovie Soko, TV star Judge Rinder, presenter Kelly Brook, comedian Russell Howard, Oscar-winner Richard Dreyfuss, author Jenny Eclair will also be checking for soggy bottoms. 

Watch the trailer for The Great British Bake Off SU2C

Firstly, we need to point out that this is the last time we will see Sandi Toksvig presenting alongside Noel Fielding, as she announced her departure from the show earlier this year. But it looks like she’s going to be given a dramatic send off, as everyone is having a tough time in the tent (apart from Vorderman, who claims to have “perfect” bakes). The trailer ends with an iconic shot of Theroux looking through the oven window while sat on the floor, saying: “I like it on Bake Off when they do this – it’s like they really care.”

Fan reactions to the GBBO line-up

As you can imagine, such a brilliant line-up has caused the most excited reaction from fans on Twitter. In particular, The Theroux and Queer Eye fandoms have plenty to say. 

One fan called the line-up “absolutely delicious” and gave it the Mary Berry mark of approval. 

“Louis Theroux, Tan France and Judge Rinder in the same tent??? Sign me up,” another said excitedly. 

“The sheer concept of Louis Theroux on Bake Off has actually caused me to need a little lie down,” confessed one.

A fourth succinctly stated: “Tan France and Louis Theroux in celeb bake off??? I’m fucking living.”

“Not to miss the point entirely, but this is one hot lineup,” tweeted another, alongside a very dramatic GIF.

“OMG TAN FRANCE!!!! THE CROSSOVER I NEVER KNEW I NEEDED,” a fan ever so casually replied.

“@louistheroux on #GBBO might be my televisual highlight for 2020!,” said another.

And a fan asked her friend: “Do you think tan France and Louis Theroux are in the same episode?”

Speaking about the show, Channel 4 Head of Formats and Features, Sarah Lazenby, said: “The Great Celebrity Bake Off is a key ingredient in our Stand Up To Cancer recipe. We’ve seen the power of using comedy and entertainment to bring awareness and raise millions of pounds to fund pioneering cancer trials. We hope viewers will enjoy this year’s line-up of famous bakers, there’s never a dough moment as each bring something fresh and exciting to the tent.”

Images: Channel 4, BBC