The Great British Bake Off has certainly been something of a doozy this year: never before has the cosy baking show made so many headlines (we’re thinking, in particular, about that Noel Fielding fridge gaffe and Steven’s ‘controversial’ Instagram account) – but Prue Leith’s social media slip-up has proven to be the cherry on top of the iced bun.

The popular cookery expert decided to, unsurprisingly, congratulate this year’s winner with an emotional message on Twitter. So far, so normal.

There was just one issue: she did it a whopping 12 hours before the show finale actually aired on Channel 4. Which means that, yes, she’s basically ruined the ending for everyone – oops!

Yes, this writer has been burned by Prue, too. And, yes, the taste of betrayal is even bitterer than a two-day-old lemon tart. But, in the spirit of goodwill, we here at stylist.co.uk have decided NOT to ruin the show for our beloved readers, which is why we won’t be revealing what her tweet said.

Or, to put it more bluntly, if you want spoilers, you will have to go somewhere else (may we recommend the Twittersphere?).

Prue has since revealed that she was in Bhutan when she penned her explosive tweet, and says that the time difference is the reason why she “f***** up”.

“The time difference is massive,” she told The Sun, when asked for a comment. “I thought that they got it six hours ago.

“I’m in too much of a state to talk about it. I f***** up.”

She later tweeted: “I am so sorry to the fans of the show for my mistake this morning, I am in a different time zone and mortified by my error.”

Of course, not everyone is as upset as Prue is about the gaffe: in fact, many social media users have leapt gleefully upon the error and launched a thousand (or so) memes.

Here are just a few…

We imagine they won’t stop pouring in any time soon, to be honest.

Whether you know the outcome or not, tonight’s episode will see Sophie Faldo, Kate Lyon and Steven Carter-Bailey go head-to-head for the coveted prize. And, while the suspense has been undeniably ruined for some of us, it seems a safe bet that the cosy baking show will soothe our souls with delicious bakes, gorgeous artwork and puns upon puns upon puns.

Anyone else still wish Liam was in with a chance of stealing the trophy…?

Images: Rex Features