What the Bloody Hell is ‘The Great British Baking Show: The Professionals’ on Netflix?

What do American fans of The Great British Baking Show in 2023 and could it be something called The Great British Baking Show: The Professionals? The sixth season of the reality competition series hits Netflix today, exposing us Yanks to yet another British-born spin-off of our beloved Bake Off. Unlike other riffs on the classic, The Great British Baking Show: The Professionals eschews the tent, Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith, and a band of charming amateurs in exchange for a luxurious catering kitchen, hoity-toity judges, and profesh patisserie chefs.

At this point, there are now so many Great British Baking Show pretenders on Netflix, you could imagine they’d get their own sub-genre. So what sets The Great British Baking Show: The Professionals apart from the likes of Zumbo’s Just Desserts, Bake Squad, Nailed It!, or Sugar Rush? Heck, what even is The Great British Baking Show: The Professionals on Netflix?

Here’s everything you need to know about the latest installment in the epic The Great British Baking Show universe on Netflix…The Great British Baking Show: The Professionals.

What Is The Great British Baking Show: The Professionals on Netflix?

The Great British Baking Show: The Professionals is a British-made direct spin-off of The Great British Baking Show. The show originally premiered in the U.K. back in 2016 and was originally called Bake Off: Crème de la Crème. That was soon swapped for Bake Off: The Professionals. [Note: the reason why the original show is known as The Great British Bake Off everywhere but the USA and Canada is because Pillsbury owns the rights to the phrase “Bake Off” in those North American territories. Hence, we’re stuck with the clunkier Great British Baking Show name.]

The Professionals is markedly different from its more humble mother show. The Great British Baking Show: The Professionals is shot in a fancy kitchen (that is supposedly in one of England’s most spectacular manor homes, though I’m skeptical) instead of the legendarily cozy tent and teams of two compete against each other for baking glory.

The patisserie chefs competing are asked to first show their prowess making Miniatures, then tackling a Secret Recipe, and then there’s a Showpiece Challenge. Both challenges are graded using points and demand higher levels of technical proficiency than the masterworks we already get in the tent.

How Do I Know Tom Allen and Liam Charles, the Hosts of The Great British Baking Show: The Professionals Season 6 on Netflix?

The Great British Baking Show: The Professionals is hosted by comedian Tom Allen and Bake Off alum Liam Charles.

Fans of The Great British Baking Show will know Tom Allen as the sharply-dressed British presenter who filled in for host Noel Fielding during one of the more recent Great British Baking Show: Holidays installments.

Liam Charles appeared in The Great British Baking Show Collection 5, aka the first year without Mary Berry, Sue Perkins, and Mel Giedroyc. Since his time on The Great British Baking Show, Charles has become a popular food personality in the UK and judges Junior Baking Show, which you can also stream on Netflix.

Where are Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith in The Great British Baking Show: The Professionals Season 6 on Netflix?

They’re done! They’ve been given the sack! YOU’LL NEVER SEE PAUL AND PRUE AGAIN!!!

Actually, Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith have never judged any iteration of The Great British Baking Show: The Professionals. Benoit Blin (who does NOT solve Rian Johnson murder mysteries!) and Cherish Linden (who is NOT named after the catchy Madonna ballad!) have been hosting the show since it first premiered.

Is The Great British Baking Show: The Professionals Any Good?

I mean…it’s very different and very similar to the original Great British Baking Show. It has a similar score, mentions galore of jaffa cakes, and Kitchen-Aid mixers a-plenty. However, it’s more about putting professionals through their paces and creating works of art than it is about celebrating talented hobbyists. (Though you could argue more recent seasons of The Great British Baking Show are rather similarly sadistic.)

If you’re someone who gobbles up each and every baking show out there, you’ll probably love binging this show.

If you miss what The Great British Baking Show used to be, this ain’t it. (Go to the most recent seasons of HBO Max’s The Great Pottery Throw Down for those vibes.)