A shocking scandal in a BBC show is making front page news. Its viewing figures are the largest of all the programming currently on British television - this week a million more people watched it than watched "The Big Bang Theory" in the USA, only four on all US networks have larger viewing figures.
The story is on the front page of Friday's Daily Telegraph and the whole front of the Sun. So what is dividing the nation? See below the fold.
The question that is dividing the nation is - did sweet little grey haired lady deliberately sabotage bushy bearded Iain's chances of winning the competition by taking his baked Alaska out of the freezer? The Guardian sums up the incident:
It is perhaps the most British of scandals.
But claims of baking sabotage rocked the Great British Bake Off on Wednesday evening after Iain Watters became the latest contestant to be sent home, following a meltdown where he threw his molten baked alaska in the bin.
Hundreds took to social media after the 31-year-old was dismissed by judges Paul Hollywood and Mary Berry for failing to present a dessert, with many declaring their decision unfair.
Yep, despite the impression of British cookery that many here have - and expressed in the comments in
another diary yesterday - cookery shows are extremely popular as the controversy over "The Great British Bake Off" indicates. (Of course this could be a "food porn" interest.)
Unlike another BBC show "Strictly Come Dancing" that translated to the USA as "Dancing with the Stars", the US version of this show, CBS's "The American Baking Competition" proved a flop. In contrast, the BBC has a spin off analysis programme "The Next Slice" which dissects the week's show and interviews the eliminated contestant.
In the ensuing scandal, the BBC responded to demands for Iain's reinstatement and Diana Beard, the "saboteur" to be dropped by revealing she had withdrawn. Not because of "bin-gate" but she had been taken ill between shooting this week's and the next episode earlier this year. It caused her to loose her sense of smell and taste so it appears that some sort of justice has been done.