The Great British Bake Off might have been running for 14 years, but they are still managing to do Bake Off firsts.
Tonight, the show held its very first Meringue Week with the bakers being handed a number of difficult challenges. But despite the new theme, one baker managed to throw it right back to series 5.
Iain decided to reference the ‘Other Iain from Belfast’ by creating a Showstopper challenge that honoured the controversial Bin-Gate moment.
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Way back in 2014, baker Diana famously removed Iain’s Baked Alaska from the freezer to make room for her own dessert. When he saw it had failed to set, he scrapped the whole thing into the bin which he then presented to the judges.
Current contestant Iain used the moment as inspiration for his vacherin glacé (or meringue ice cream cake to those of us who don’t speak Bake Off) and made it in the shape of a bin, using the same flavours as his namesake.
Viewers took to social media, with one calling the showstopper “iconic” on X and another saying: “Bake off 2025 highlight of the series.”
Channel 4
Despite it looking incredible, judge Paul Hollywood wasn’t a fan of the choice of coffee and dark chocolate.
Although Iain didn’t do overly well in Meringue Week, it was enough to avoid leaving the tent. Instead it was Lesley who was sent home after struggling.
She made a wedding cake themed vacherin glacé in honour of her daughter getting engaged recently. But she mixed up the measurements for her ingredients when reading her recipe and had to start again which resulted in her meringue being called “chewy” by the judges.
Speaking of her exit, Lesley said: “I knew it was coming, it was like ripping the plaster off. It’s been a dream of mine to do this, it’s been a lifetime achievement and I got over half way through.”
Channel 4
Lesley also came in last in the technical challenge, after her soufflé failed to rise properly.
The technical was also different from the usual format. Due to not wanting the soufflés to deflate before Prue and Paul got to taste them, the bakers had a staggered start and finish time.
Next week is Dessert Week!
The Great British Bake Off and its spin-off Bake Off: An Extra Slice both air on Channel 4 in the UK. In the US, it’s known as The Great British Baking Show, and streams on Netflix.
Read more Great British Bake Off news on our dedicated homepage
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Catherine is an Evening News Editor at Digital Spy, and was the site’s News Editor between 2018 and 2024. Prior to that, she worked at OK! Online, and has interviewed a slew of celebrities across her career in entertainment news, including Tom Hanks, Cheryl and Noel Fielding. Catherine also has specialist knowledge in all things drag, interviewing a huge portion of RuPaul’s Drag Race stars, and getting her own drag makeover for Channel 4’s show Drag SOS.  LinkedIn
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