‘The Great British Baking Show’ Saved the Most Shocking Elimination for the Semi-Finals

Well, we’re all wrong sometimes.

For days, nay, weeks, I was convinced that The Great British Baking Show producers were going out of their way to set one baker up with a “winner” narrative. It came down to Paul Hollywood‘s naked adoration of their skills, the production’s obsession with their pure charisma, and, of course, some very obvious hints dropped in last week’s “Quarter-Finals” installment of The Great British Baking Show on Netflix. However, cut to this week’s penultimate installment of the season, and that chosen baker crumbled like their underbaked pastry base. By the end of the episode, they were cooked, in the not savory definition of the word.

**Spoilers for The Great British Baking Show “Patisserie Week,” now streaming on Netflix**

Tasha Stones was eliminated in The Great British Baking Show’s Semi-Finals episode, “Patisserie Week,” and quite frankly, she deserved to go. That still doesn’t mean I wasn’t shocked it was happening. Indeed, it was — even as Prue Leith commented — rather unbelievable that the consistently great baker managed to produce such sloppy returns at the moment when finesse mattered the most. However, Tasha has also struggled with her nerves from the beginning of the season. That, and her ambition. In the end, Tasha succumbed to both her anxiety and her penchant for masochism. The other three remaining bakers simply did a better job when it came to planning, precision, and sheer blind luck.

Tasha Stones had the unenviable luck of making headlines before this season of The Great British Baking Show even premiered back in September. That’s because she was the first ever deaf baker to enter the competition. As the weeks bore on, however, the most extraordinary thing about her wasn’t the fact that she had ushered in a BSL interpreter to the tent, but that she managed to dazzle Paul and Prue in the second and third weeks of the series. After winning back-to-back Star Bakers, she crumbled do to a heat-related migraine in Week 4 and had to leave the tent early. Nevertheless, she continued to bounce back and frequently earned plaudits from the judges, despite some occasional stumbles.

Going into this week’s penultimate episode of The Great British Baking Show, I had the sense that Tasha and Josh Smalley, i.e. the Showstopper genius of the season, were shoo-ins for the finale. The bakers on the bubble would be dark horse Matty Edgell and erratic, ambitious baker Dan Hunter. Boy, was I wrong.

For The Great British Baking Show “Patisserie Week” Signature Challenge, Paul and Prue asked the bakers to make two batches of a dozen, highly decorated financiers (which are a small, French, almond-flavored cake). Last week’s Star Baker Matty’s looked good, but one batch was slightly over-baked. Josh’s were a mixed bag, one batch tasted too much like faux almond, while the other was great. Tasha’s chocolate and coffee-flavored financiers were great, but her pistachio ones were over-baked and decorated with curdled buttercream. Dan earned a Hollywood Handshake for his efforts. Dan shot ahead, while the other three were basically tied for the middle.

The Technical Challenge, set by Prue, was another story. From the jump, the South African-born Dame told the bakers that because it was hard to get the flavors wrong on the tarte au pomme, or Apple Tart, they should be focused on aesthetics. While Dan’s pastry cracked, the flavors were fine, putting him in third. Josh came in first, while Matty somehow intuited his way through the recipe to second with the manic decisions of an idiot savant. (It was truly delightful to watch him work out each step on instinct, to be honest!) What wasn’t delightful, though, was seeing Tasha make one wrong choice after another with a grim attitude of resignation. She came, obviously, in last.

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Heading into the all-important Showstopper — which was coincidentally Tasha’s BIRTHDAY!! — Paul and Prue made it clear to Noel Fielding that Tasha was in trouble. She needed to pull out a dazzling Showstopper. Instead of sticking to safe pastry recipes and focusing on the final finish, however, Tasha went out of her way to pick the hardest way possible to make the pastry for her Millefoglio Showstopper Challenge. She chose a reverse puff pastry recipe that wound up causing mayhem for her left and right. As her fellow bakers were retrieving their pastry from the oven, she was preparing to put hers in. “I like making my life difficult,” she said with bleak humor. Well, you succeeded!

In the end, even though Paul and Prue were impressed with the lamination she achieved, Tasha’s messy presentation and grainy mango curd booked her ticket home. Josh won Star Baker, Dan essentially came in second, and Matty secured the third berth to The Great British Baking Show finals.

There’s no doubt that Tasha Stones is probably the breakout star of this season of The Great British Baking Show. She has the charisma and the chops to parlay her experience in the tent into a career on British TV like Andrew Smyth or Liam Charles have before her. So it’s no wonder the producers took every opportunity to champion her during her time in the tent. It still feels odd to see someone with so much wind at their backs crumble so close to the finish line (even though it’s happened before!).

In the end, Tasha left The Great British Baking Show with her head held high. Her farewell Instagram post reiterates how much the experience alone meant to her. She will only evolve more as a baker and as a person because of her time in the tent.

However, Tasha’s elimination also opens up the field a bit more in The Great British Baking Show finals. While we’re still pulling for a Josh Smalley win, Dan Hunter and Matty Edgell have repeatedly shown they are not to be counted out. All in all, it ratchets up the excitement for a finale that hitherto seemed all but wrapped up.