'Great British Bake Off' Will Return This Year, After BBC 'Backs Down' On Plan To Block New Channel 4 Series

‘The Great British Bake Off’ will seemingly return to our screens later this year, after the BBC bowed to pressure to not to block production of the Channel 4 version.

It had been previously thought the corporation would enforce a clause in their contract with Love Productions, which would have kept the show off air until 2018.

However, The Sun has reported the BBC have backed down, giving Channel 4 the green light to go ahead with filming this year’s series.

A source told the paper: “This has been a massive blockage which would have seen the show off air until 2018.

“That could have done real damage to the brand. But most importantly, the fans would have missed out.

“It’s great news they’ve agreed not to enforce the contract — and the producers can get on with bringing it back to screens this year.”

Channel 4 bosses are yet to confirm the news though, with a spokesperson telling HuffPost UK: “We have not announced scheduling plans for the next series of ‘The Great British Bake Off’ yet.”

Channel 4 snatched the rights to air ‘Great British Bake Off’ from the BBC in September, prompting Mary Berry, Mel and Sue to quit out of loyalty to the broadcaster.