‘The Great British Baking Show’ Cast Jamie Finn For His Looks, Not For His Baking Skills

The Great British Baking Show is not a show that sparks lot of controversy. Aside from “#Bingate,” it is the warm, cozy blanket of television shows: a sweet wholesome comfort for the soul. But after watching two episodes of the latest season of The Great British Baking Show on Netflix, I need to admit that something has been nagging me about this season. I’m not sure the super charming 20-year-old Jamie Finn should have been allowed in the tent to be begin with.

First of all, I love Jamie. He is sweet, boyish charm incarnate. I adore his self-deprecating sense of humor, loud laugh, and penchant for animal designs. Being on The Great British Baking Show obviously means a lot to the 20-year-old barman. In the first episode, he had to walk off camera to avoid being shot with emotional tears in his eyes, and his consistently chipper attitude in the face of devastating criticism is clearly a defense mechanism. Also, he is not a bad baker! He’s proven he can make a good biscuit, a good riff on his grandmother’s simnel cake recipe, and, uh, work with fondant.

However, as a long-time devotee of The Great British Baking Show, I’m not sure Jamie ever really, truly had the skills to compete in the tent. There are always bakers who find themselves flustered in the early weeks of the competition, but they typically come to the competition with overly ambitious designs, or at least a sign that they have more than a handful of tricks in their bag. Even Dan Chambers, who was eliminated last week in lieu of Jamie, came with more complex plans and a more diverse set of skills. (He used dry ice and isomalt to make a waterfall!) Jamie was saved by his delicious simnel cake…and, well, it seemed his charisma*.

*Past winner Sophie Faldo has written in a RadioTimes column that there is a lot more to judging that we don’t see on TV.

Jamie is also one of two twenty-year-olds in the tent this year. The other is the fastidious college student/organ player Henry. Now Henry fits the mold of the classic “youth” in the tent. I’m comparing him to the likes of Martha Collison (who is now a successful cookbook author) or Flora Shedden (who now owns her own café). They’re the old souls trapped in young bodies, who simply can’t stop tinkering with their tea cake recipe or their frosting skills. Jamie is not one of these kids. He is a normie who likes baking. There’s nothing bad about that, but in his short time in the tent, it’s become clear he is way, way out of his depth. From putting egg wash on fig rolls to forgetting to add eggs to his cake batter, he is an amateur baker in the truest sense of the word. It’s not a bad thing — I’m an amateur baker! It’s just not necessarily what The Great British Baking Show is supposed to be about.

It’s been noted that this is the youngest cast ever for a season of The Great British Baking Show. In fact, as the seasons have rolled on, the contestants have appeared slightly more Instagram-ready than the grandmothers, pensioners, and parents of early seasons. There are no senior citizens in the cast this year. Phil is the oldest at 54, and Helena is the oldest woman in the tent at a spry 40. There’s perhaps an innocent explanation for this. As the show boomed in popularity, it inspired a younger generation of Brits to get back to baking. There’s also a less innocent explanation for this. Since contestants like Nadiya Hussein and Ruby Tandoh became household names, appearing on The Great British Baking Show turned into an opportunity to build a career as a broadcaster or professional baker. Then there’s the possibility the producers are casting younger on purpose.

Last season, there was an odd exchange in the tent that suggested that, yeah, maybe some bakers weren’t cast for their skills. Towards the end of the season, host Noel Fielding actually told contestant Ruby Bhogal — a sensationally gorgeous engineer whose Instagram had hitherto been full of photos of her partying in places like Dubai — that he was shocked she had made it past the second week. Bhogal, who hiccuped in the premiere and then worked hard to rise to the position of finalist, laughed it off in her stride. Still, it begs the question: were we supposed to presume that some cast members were in fact cast for their looks? Or is that too cynical for a show as sweet as The Great British Baking Show?

The truth is in the outcome, though. While likable, Jamie neither had the skills to keep up with his competition, nor the energy to try to improve. He didn’t take the task at hand seriously and flailed hard in “Biscuit Week.” So when we ask ourselves if Jamie was cast for his baking skills or for his boyband looks, we’ve got to favor the latter.

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Watch The Great British Baking Show on Netflix