Two former Great British Bake Off contestants have spoken out on what they think the show should be doing moving forward.
Michael Chakraverty and David Atherton, both of whom competed on the 2019 series, believe the Channel 4 series could be doing more for LGBTQ+ representation. David, who won his series, said he felt like his year was a “turning point” for LGBTQ+ contestants as they let bakers wear pro-LGBTQ+ t-shirts and broadcasted a kiss shared between David and his fiance Nik.
Despite this, David also believes the show, which has had openly queer hosts since the beginning with Sue Perkins, Sandi Toksvig and Matt Lucas, has favoured gay men as opposed to representing all the letters in the LGBTQ+ acronym. In an interview with PinkNews, he said Bake Off has “embraced gay men very comfortably and highlighted them a lot”, but the “rest of the queer community has been slightly sidelined.” While David did acknowledge it ultimately comes down to whoever applies, he said the show “could do more”.
READ MORE: Bake Off’s Matt Lucas shares heartbreaking reason for his dramatic weight loss
Echoing a similar sentiment, Michael, who placed sixth on the same series, feels the show is ready to have it's first ever trans baker. He added: “If you think about the proportion of people in this country who identify as trans, and then the proportion of them who like Bake Off, and then the proportion of those who are good enough to go on Bake Off – the proportion of those who will fit with the casting dynamic – it depends on the application and on demographics, but more can be done.”
The pair hope that if more LGBTQ+ representation was to come to the show, it would be done in a way that doesn’t feel like tokenism.
The Liverpool Echo has contacted Channel 4 and Love Productions for comment.
David Atherton was crowned the winner of the 10th series of Bake off back in 2019. Throughout the competition, he impressed not only the judges but the fans with his healthy bakes but it was his showstopping picnic basket that secured him the win in the final.
In the same series, Michael Chakraverty won over the hearts of viewers with his childhood anecdotes about growing up in the highlands of Scotland. Since appearing on the competition, Michael has continued to share his passion for baking by producing several videos for Netflix.
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