Claims of sabotage have once again rocked the Great British Bake Off after contestant Iain Watters was eliminated following a disastrous baked alaska that ended up in the bin. The 31-year-old Northern Irish construction engineer was sent home by judges Paul Hollywood and Mary Berry after failing to present a dessert, sparking outrage on social media.
Hundreds of viewers took to Twitter to declare the decision unfair, with many accusing fellow contestant Diana Beard of sabotaging Watters by removing his pudding from the freezer and leaving it to defrost. The hashtags #justiceforiain, #bringiainback, and #bingate trended for most of the evening, along with 'poor Iain' and 'baked alaska'.
Bake Off presenter Sue Perkins defended Beard, tweeting: 'Iain's alaska was out of the freezer for 40 secs. That's it. No sabotage. 40 secs of normal temp would NOT be enough to reduce it to liquid.' She added: 'All getting a little inflamed for my liking. Am off. This is a show about CAKES. Please, let's save the ire for real stuff.'
Paul Hollywood also waded into the debate, defending the judges' decision: 'At the end of the day Mary & I need something to judge, it's not about melted ice cream but about what's presented to us.' He added: 'I'm glad Mary's not on Twitter this would upset her.'
Beard, 70, denied the sabotage claims, blaming bad editing and insisting Watters' cake 'was not out of the freezer for more than 40 seconds'. She said Watters does not blame her for the incident. Watters himself tweeted: 'Guys no hard feelings now. Diana is a top lady and all us tent bakers are great pals. Can't wait to tune into the rest of the series.'
This is not the first time sabotage allegations have hit the show. Last year, contestant Howard Middleton was the victim of an apparent accidental custard theft.
