As Celebrity Bake Off confirms its return date - a look at why we need a bit of the Bake Off spirit at the moment

With Alison Hammond, Noel Fielding, Paul Hollywood all returning, and a new judge in Caroline Waldegrave OBE (who replaces Prue Leith), we are surely in for a treat as stars such as broadcaster Roman Kemp, comedian Jamali Maddix, TV legend Gloria Hunniford, and Good Morning Britain star Kate Garraway take to the famous Bake Off benches. We’ll even have some domestic competitions on hour hands, with married couple Chris and Rosie Ramsey taking part, as well as brother-and-sister property presenting duo Scarlette and Stuart Douglas.

The full list of celebrity contestants fighting for the famous cake-stand are:

• Sarah Beeny
• Adam Buxton
• Amelia Dimoldenberg
• Scarlette Douglas
• Stuart Douglas
• Kate Garraway
• Ellie Goldstein
• Gloria Hunniford OBE
• Jim Howick
• Gbemisola Ikumelo
• Roman Kemp
• Jamali Maddix
• Maxine Peake
• Chris Ramsey
• Rosie Ramsey
• Self Esteem (AKA Rebecca Lucy Taylor)
• Meera Syal
• Tommy Tiernan
• Phil Wang
• Sophie Willan

In my opinion, the return of the Bake Off franchise couldn’t come quick enough. In a world that has seen doom and gloom brought about in the past few months, thanks in part to Trump and Musk’s new era of world politics, it can be easy to get bogged down in doomscrolling and spiralling into reading terrifying and depressing headlines.

Celebrity Bake Off won’t fix this but it will surely offer a bit of a reprieve from the bleak outlook on the world at the moment. The only drama I want to experience in the hour where I sit down to watch the show is whether someone’s dough has risen properly, or even if someone has stolen someone else’s custard - not if the world’s most powerful leaders are finished with their bickering yet.

It will seem twee and pointless to some but the Bake Off spirit is a bit of what we all need at the moment!