It’s a well-trodden path for any successful show that has pulled in the ratings on British television. After becoming a hit in the UK, the producers turn their attention across the pond to the lucrative, glamorous and hard-to-capture US market. And with The Great British Bake Off hitting the highs across the UK over the last few series, it seemed that it would soon be Paul and Mary’s turn to cross the Atlantic. No doubt those behind The Great British Bake Off hoped for the same US crossover success of other programmes, such as the X Factor, Pop Idol and Strictly Come Dancing, all of which had translated into big ratings-winners stateside after first launching in the UK.
Pop mogul Simon Cowell, the brainchild behind X Factor and Pop Idol, saw his talent shows become some of the biggest on US TV after they were launched over there. While both series were lapped up by eager reality-TV show viewers, the success would also propel him from a mere judge in the UK to a superstar in the States. When each show went to air, Cowell would see himself emblazoned across huge billboards on the iconic Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles, California, and while promoting them, he became a regular on the chat show circuit. He quickly became a sensation in the States, despite previously being relatively unknown. As TV’s ‘Mr Nasty’, fans become hooked on the caustic put-downs and harsh one-liners that he would deliver in a cut-glass English accent, keeping viewers and critics enthralled. In fact, it’s fair to say that many would tune in every week just to see how he would deal with a new raft of aspiring singing stars, all keen to make their mark on the music industry – many of whom, in the opinion of armchair experts, would never stand a chance of getting past the first audition.
After taking American Idol – the US equivalent of Pop Idol – to the top of the ratings charts for six series, Cowell then decided it was time to move on from the show, and instead launch an American version of his UK number one show, the X Factor. Although ratings, initially at least, didn’t fare well in comparison with American Idol, the programme soon gathered in the popularity stakes, and by 2013 it was recommissioned for a third series. Interestingly, Cowell was the sole judge from season one’s line-up to remain on the panel. With millions in the bank – and just as many fans – it’s fair to say that he was proof indeed of just how lucrative launching a UK show in the US could be for a talent show judge.
Of course Cowell was joining a host of other Brits to have enjoyed similar success after crossing the Atlantic. One example of this is Len Goodman and Bruno Tonioli. Since Strictly Come Dancing – the UK ballroom dancing competition show – launched, they had been on the judging panel. Len had acted as the head judge, having become a master of ballroom and Latin dancing during his career on the floor, and for years he had run a dance school in Dartford, in the north of Kent. A regular champion on the dance circuit, he was the perfect candidate to bring a measured, more serious tone to the often flamboyant show. Meanwhile, Italian-born Bruno, a professional dancer who had appeared in a string of music videos over the years, added the perfect over-the-top element to the panel. His exuberant comments, which often included wild gesticulations as well as him standing up from his judging seat, added a little bit of comedy and light fun to the proceedings, though his critiques of the performers’ moves were no less savvy than those from his fellow judges.
The balance between Len and Bruno worked brilliantly. And, therefore, it was entirely understandable that when America came knocking for its own version of Strictly, these two stalwarts of the judging panel would be top of the producers’ list to join the show stateside. Over there it was renamed Dancing With The Stars to reflect the format of celebrities being partnered with professional dancers, whittled down over a number of weeks until an eventual winner raised the prestigious glitterball trophy. The series became such a hit in the US that ABC, the network on which it was screened, took the bold decision to commission two seasons of the show every year, in comparison to the BBC, which had just one series that went to air throughout autumn and winter. But that left a tricky situation for Bruno and Len, as they were judging two shows, on different sides of an ocean, at the exact same time for six months of the year. Their schedule was gruelling – and they racked up thousands of air miles as they sped across the Atlantic between TV studios. At the beginning of the week they would film Dancing With The Stars, before hopping on a flight to London for Thursday, when they would go into rehearsals for Strictly Come Dancing before filming the show on a Saturday, then heading straight back to the airport: exhausting, but a perfect example of how a reality show crossing the pond can make stars of its judges.
And perhaps unsurprisingly it was this exact same phenomenon that Richard McKerrow, the producer from Love Productions in charge of creating The Great British Bake Off, was keen to replicate. In 2012, McKerrow stated that it was time to look at creating a Stateside Bake Off that would keep American audiences entertained, and maybe kick-start a revival in home baking across the pond. And after the success of the third UK series, an American version of the show looked set to happen.
A US network snapped up the rights after seeing the huge cultural impact that The Great British Bake Off had had in the UK. CBS – home to huge TV shows such as Big Brother, all-female panel show The Talk and CSI: New York – bought the rights from Love Productions, hoping to replicate its success stateside. McKerrow was expected to oversee the US version of the show, with suggestions indicating that it might simply be called Bake Off. In fact the initial reports that circulated in the British media proved untrue, and by the time the show got to air in June 2013, it was called The American Baking Competition.
But perhaps even more importantly, it would prove to be a huge moment in Paul Hollywood’s career. Towards the tail end of 2012 there was much speculation that CBS did, in fact, want both Paul and Mary to remain as a duo and front the first US series, while continuing to film the UK version. The Daily Mirror quoted a US source in 2012 as saying: ‘They [Mary and Paul] bring that lightness of touch that Americans would love. We are desperate for them to do it – and they’re certainly top of the list.’ But another insider told the paper that the baking duo’s busy schedule – which included filming more spin off shows and an impending fourth series – could prove a ‘stumbling block’ for the negotiations. Nevertheless, it appeared that Paul was, understandably, in high demand with TV execs in the US eager to sign him up. But while they mulled over whether they would make a firm offer to Paul and Mary, they were doubtless considering how well the Bake Off format had done across the globe, not just in the United Kingdom. In fact, it had become something of a global phenomenon.
As with many shows that proved to be a ratings hit in the UK, those behind The Great British Bake Off saw the potential for taking their programme overseas. It’s a well-trodden path by scores of other successful British shows, including Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?, Weakest Link, X Factor, Big Brother and I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! All of these shows proved to be popular with viewers on UK shores before going abroad. And so the same happened with Paul and Mary’s flagship show. Bake Offs are now being broadcast in Denmark, Sweden, Belgium and Poland, the Guardian reported in October 2012, while series were also in the pipeline in Ireland, Norway, France and Australia.
In Sweden the show was called Hela Sverige Bakar – which means All Sweden Is Baking – and garnered similarly successful ratings. In Mary’s place was Sweden’s own ‘motherly’ Birgitta Rasmussen, who had penned her own baking bible, Sju Sorters Kako (Seven Kinds Of Cake). But while Mary riled against soggy bottoms, Birgitta’s bugbear was the ‘dödbakade bottnar’ (‘deadbaked bottoms’).
The format of each show remains the same, but the menu of bakes to be cooked up by the participants is tailored to the country’s taste. Cinnamon buns, for example – which are so popular in Sweden that there’s a national day dedicated to them – are the show’s signature dish. Meanwhile, across the border in Denmark, viewers lapped up Den Store Bagedyst – or in English, the Great Bake Fight. The show has smashed all records for factual programmes on Danish TV channel DR1. ‘This is the closest version to the UK original: if you turned down the sound, you’d never know the difference, though there are subtle pointers such as more Scandi wood, and no Smeg fridges,’ noted Mark Cook in the Guardian. The tone of the Danish version is decidedly gothic, too. Mary’s equivalent is Neel Rønholt, an excitable blonde woman, while her Paul Hollywood is a slightly older man called Peter Ingemann. Both, however, wear black in an attempt, it seems, to add a little drama to the proceedings.
In Belgium the show is called De Meesterbakker – or The Master Baker – and gets a withering review from Cook, who says the set ‘really needs a visit from ITV’s 60 Minute Makeover. It lacks the jolly aesthetic of the UK version; much of the action seems to happen in a garishly lit warehouse, which means no tent, no flags, and no squirrels with giant testicles.’
While the UK’s Bake Off action takes place in marquees, some of the Flemish version is filmed in the would-be bakers’ kitchens, leading to ‘an awful lot of clutter and mucky sponges you really don’t need to see’. Naturally, with it being filmed in Belgium, the world’s chocolate and waffle capital, both make regular appearances – and it only follows that the judge is one of the country’s best chocolatier pâtissiers, Bernand Proot.
Down Under, it’s no surprise that The Great Australian Bake Off has taken off with gusto. Australia’s own version of MasterChef is as big as the X Factor in Britain after being given a dramatic makeover, and so it’s no surprise that their Bake Off secured a primetime Saturday-evening slot. Regular bakes featured on the menu include national favourites such as lamingtons – a sponge cake covered in chocolate, dipped in coconut and cut into squares.
And it wouldn’t be long before Paul was eventually confirmed for the US series. In March 2013, as preparations for the show started to swing into action, he revealed on Twitter that he had finally been selected as one of the judges. Taking to the social networking site, he said: ‘The American version will be fascinating for me, don’t know how they’ll cope with me, mind!’ By anyone’s standards, it was a huge moment in his career: he was now on the brink of becoming a household name in the US and with that would come endless opportunities and possibilities for himself and his family.
To begin with, the inevitable financial rewards were tangible. Huge stars on reality TV shows in the US rarely bank less than $1 million for a series. Then again, such figures can go much higher if the show really taps into the public consciousness. Of course there would be a lot of hard work involved in the filming, not least because while he was busy taping The American Baking Competition, Paul was also contracted to film another series of The Great British Bake Off. Much like the globetrotting Strictly Come Dancing judges, his schedule involved jetting from continent to continent. Despite all the initial hard work involved, Paul was delighted by the opportunity to reach an even bigger audience. ‘I have always said I would love to go to America, and with a name like Hollywood, it’s perfect, isn’t it?’ he laughed in an interview with the Sunday Mirror. ‘I’m very excited and I do think the show will translate well. It’s now in 12 countries and repeated all over the world.’
On the surface the British and American versions of the show were very similar. In The American Baking Competition 10 contestants went head to head in similar challenges to those seen on the BBC2 version of the show, gradually whittled down to a final winner who was crowned the master baker. Except there were a few slight differences: first, there was a massive prize fund in the stateside show. The eventual winner would not only take home a cool $250,000, but he or she would also bag a cookbook deal – prizes that certainly didn’t feature in the British version.
But perhaps there was one more fundamental difference. While it had been touted that Mary might join Paul in the US version of Bake Off, it was revealed that she had declined the opportunity because she was concerned about being away from her family for lengthy periods of time. The gruelling schedule of filming The Great British Bake Off while also juggling her other commitments made it almost impossible for Mary to start jetting between the UK and the US.
And so the producers decided to recruit another female co-judge. Enter Marcela Valladolid, a 34-year-old San Diego-born American TV chef and cookbook author who specialised in Mexican cooking. In the US she had risen to fame after presenting the Food Network show, Mexican Made Easy. And with her glamorous Latino looks and winning personality, she seemed an obvious choice. Described as ‘a little less traditional than Berry’, in pre-show publicity Marcela revealed that she was looking for bakers who ‘think outside of the box’ and who produce ‘cool flavours’ – something that she prided herself on doing in her own career.
Valladolid’s interest in becoming a chef was first sparked when she began work at her Aunt Marcela’s cooking school in Tijuana, Mexico. She graduated from the Los Angeles Culinary Institute as a ‘Certified cook’ and then moved to Paris, where she graduated as a classically trained pastry chef at the prestigious École Ritz Escoffier. On her return to Tijuana she started her own catering company and taught cooking techniques to classes of 40 students out of her home there.
Valladolid soon joined the staff of Bon Appétit magazine as an editor and recipe stylist. She also competed on the 2005 series of the US version of The Apprentice, in which she came fourth. Her first cooking show was on the Spanish language version of the Discovery Channel, which aired in the US and Latin America. In the series, she showed viewers how local Hispanic homes preserve and revive traditional recipes. Valladolid’s first cookbook, Fresh Mexico: 100 Simple Recipes for True Mexican Flavor, was published in August 2009 and has since received positive reviews. Her second cooking show, the Food Network series Mexican Made Easy, debuted in January 2010. The accompanying cookbook was released in September 2011. Both the book and the show were shot in the city of San Diego – no doubt because Marcela knew the location well and felt at home there.
When it came to the series, Marcela had a clear purpose: she wanted to address preconceptions about Mexican cooking, in particular the notion that all Mexican cooking features yellow, greasy cheese. Instead, the point that she came back to again and again during the course of her series was that Mexican food was full of flavours and natural ingredients, not just processed food that you could buy at fast-food outlets. From there, Marcela went on to appear on other TV shows on the Food Network including Throwdown! with Bobby Flay, having been primed by producers as a face for the channel. Her youthful good looks, experience in cooking and passion for food all fitted in with the image that they were going for and she quickly became a key player in their scheduling.
Meanwhile, the US version of Bake Off would be hosted not by Mel and Sue, but by an enthusiastic, squeaky-clean, devout Christian comic called Jeff Foxworthy. Born in Atlanta, Georgia, he was the first child of IBM executive Jimmy Foxworthy and Linda Foxworthy, both of English descent – perhaps meaning that Jeff might know a thing or two when it came to Paul’s favourite British bakes!
After briefly following in his father’s footsteps and dabbling in work for IBM, Jeff went on to become an eminent comedian, TV and radio personality and author. Initially he found huge fame as part of a comedy troupe but went on to have a hugely varied and successful broadcasting background. The variety of different shows that he had become involved in doubtless impressed producers of The American Baking Competition in the same way that Mel and Sue were thought to be versatile enough to front the UK version of the show. In particular he was known for his one-liners, and during the mid-1990s he starred in his own sitcom, The Jeff Foxworthy Show.
His comedy troupe appeared in television specials and their own shows, while in 2007 Jeff hosted the light-hearted quiz show, Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? Between 1999 and 2009, he ran his own nationally syndicated radio show. If that wasn’t enough, he was also given another show, The American Bible Challenge, to present – which ran for two series on the GSN network (Game Show Network). As far as the producers of The American Baking Competition were concerned, he had a clean-cut image that would appeal perfectly to the would-be audience of the show. On top of all of that, he has released six comedy albums, the first two of which went three times platinum. He has also been widely published as an author, writing several books filled with his jokes as well as his autobiography, No Shirt, No Shoes … No Problem!
With the judges and hosts in place and ready to get started, the US show went into filming. As the transmission date for the first episode approached, by the middle of May it began to be heavily promoted on the CBS network. And it was obvious that the producers were keen to capitalise on handsome Paul’s heart-throb status over in the UK. A promotional video on CBS’s website titled ‘Who Is Paul Hollywood?’ interviews several British women on the streets of London. According to The New York Times they ‘crow’ over his good looks and ‘strong hands’. One smiling woman observes, ‘You’d like to be dough, wouldn’t you, with Paul Hollywood? Who wouldn’t? I don’t mind him kneading me!’ Clearly the producers were hoping that Paul’s sex symbol status would translate across the pond too.
For a TV chef, there was no better place to make your name than the US, where food television has exploded over the last two decades. And it was stateside where the first TV channel 100 per cent dedicated to cookery shows was first launched in the shape of the Food Network. Originally the digital channel first hit the screens in 1993, fast becoming a firm favourite with Americans. It would take the best part of 20 years before it came to the UK and Ireland, eventually launching in 2009. Clearly it took a while for the appetite for day-long food shows to catch on with UK audiences. But in America, it seemed that viewers couldn’t get enough of the increasingly popular channel, which screened wall-to-wall cookery shows of all descriptions, whether reality shows, documentaries, step-by-step classes for beginner cooks or for chefs who were at the top of their game.
The content on the Food Network is well structured to make it easy to understand for regular and would-be viewers. It is divided into two: daytime programming and evening or, rather, primetime programming. Daytime programming generally comes under the title of ‘Food Network in the Kitchen’. The thinking behind this, it seems, is that step-by-step guides to cooking, along with simple recipes, are carried out by professional cooks and chefs. The aim appears to be that viewers can easily replicate these recipes in their own kitchens. According to one website they are ‘instructional cooking programs’.
Meanwhile, the primetime coverage in the evenings comes under the banner of ‘Food Network Night Time’. These shows are different in their focus to those that are broadcast during the earlier part of the network’s programming. They include more entertainment-based shows, where the emphasis is on reality-driven programmes, cookery competitions, or even food-related travel shows. Generally speaking, they aim to rival the kind of programmes you might see on more conventional networks such as ABC, NBC and, indeed, CBS, where The American Baking Competition would find its home.
The Food Network has been a veritable success. In fact, few people could have imagined that, in recent years, it would be available in a staggering 100 million homes across the whole of America. The popularity of the network was growing exponentially, it seemed. One pundit said that on most nights, the Food Network would get more viewers than any of the cable news channels – no mean feat in the country that invented 24-hour rolling news networks. Interestingly, the Food Network was the brainchild and creation of Reese Schonfeld, also one of the founders of CNN – the original cable news network. It seemed he had a skill for tapping into the psyche of the American TV-viewing public’s tastes and the next trends when it came to ensuring their appetites were satisfied.
The American food writer and campaigner Michael Pollan noted this phenomenon in an article penned for The New York Times and he came up with a theory as to why channels like the Food Network had managed to become so amazingly popular over the years. ‘You’ll be flipping aimlessly through the cable channels when a slow-motion cascade of glistening red cherries or a tongue of flame lapping at a slab of meat on the grill will catch your eye, and your reptilian brain will paralyze your thumb on the remote, forcing you to stop to see what’s cooking.’ Pollan concluded: ‘Food shows are the campfires in the deep cable forest, drawing us like hungry wanderers to their flame.’ The aesthetic appeal of great food being cooked up – the textures, the sound and the colours – was what appeared to be luring viewers to watch channels like the Food Network rather than others.
America certainly was the place to try to succeed, then, if you were a TV chef or cook. With the endless opportunities offered by channels such as the Food Network, as well as the more mainstream channels, it seemed that Paul would have a huge range of opportunities if he managed to achieve success stateside on The American Baking Competition.
CBS wanted the very best contestants for the show. And so, on 14 November 2012, they placed a number of casting calls advertising the show and inviting participants to apply. After a lengthy audition process that took place between 1 and 15 December 2012, an eclectic group of contestants was selected. They were Brian Emmett, Darlene Pawlukowsky, Effie Sahihi, Elaine Francisco, Francine Bryson, James Reddick, Jeremy Cross, Kolette Biddle, Whitney Beery and Carlo Fuda. The format was very similar to The Great British Bake Off. During the course of each episode the wannabe master bakers would be given three challenges to complete: a signature challenge, a technical challenge and a showstopper challenge. In the opening episode, the group were all asked to re-create an All-American Pie (technical bake), a Freestanding Savoury Pie (showstopper), and, finally, the most difficult of all: 36 Sweet Tartlets (showstopper). To say they were thrown in at the deep end would be an understatement!
There was one potential stumbling block for the producers of the show, though. Originally they had wanted to give the programme the simple title of The Bake-Off, but there was one problem: the choice of title had caused friction as the Pillsbury Company owned the copyright to the name. The bakery brand had run the Pillsbury Bake-Off for years, and bosses were concerned over CBS’s decision to use such a similar name.
The Pillsbury Bake-Off had been a televised cooking contest, which first took place in 1949. Between 1949 and 1976, it was held annually before becoming a biennial contest from 1978. Originally the contest was broadcast on CBS, before moving to the Food Network and then finally finding its home on the Hallmark Channel after that. In recent years, it had been hosted by the lifestyle guru and business magnate Martha Stewart. Bosses on that bake off had felt that CBS’s name was too close to their brand and requested they change it. CBS acceded and it was at this point that it was decided the new show would be titled The American Baking Competition.
Despite these difficulties, filming got under way in 2013 and the first contestants sweated it out as they vied for a place in the coveted final with the chance to bake for generous prizes and the title of Best Amateur Baker in America. Before long, CBS bosses began planning how they would ensure the opening episode was a huge ratings winner. It was vital that they captured the imagination of the huge number of Americans who enjoyed tuning in to competitive cookery shows on a regular basis.
Speaking ahead of the season premier to the Press Association, Paul said: ‘I think it’s going to be fantastic. They’ve got one in Australia that’s being done at the moment. The Swedish one looks really good, and the French one is getting done as we speak. Long may it reign! If it’s spreading globally then it’s doing its job.’
He added that he thought the show would translate well to an American audience. ‘It is a British idea but I don’t think the theme is uniquely British. Yes, we go back a few years, but they do as well. A lot of their ideas come from Germany, Holland, France and Britain. [In the US] they’ve got a mix of everything and have things like the Mississippi mud pie and pumpkin pie. They’re known for their baking as well, so I think it’ll be a great show.’
With the promos rolling on the website and across the CBS network, the promoters made sure the series was advertised to as many people as possible. Everything was set for the first episode to air on 29 May 2013. But it would seem that even before the series finally aired, something would happen that would not only see the show hit the headlines in a huge way but that would dramatically change Paul’s life forever.