History YMMV / TheGreatBritishBakeOff

** [[PerkyGoth Helena Garcia]] from Series 10. Everyone was captivated by her pleasant personality and her unabashed love for all things spooky, creepy and macabre, giving her a unique vibe and aesthetic that no other baker has ever had in the Bake Off. The fact that she and Noel instantly hit it off and had great chemistry together made fans love her even more, and much like with Liam, fans were heartbroken at her elimination. [[note]] Her dark horse status was, in fact, so great that it's been recognized outside GBBO. Despite not being a professional actress, Helena had a small part in Series/WhatWeDoInTheShadows, portraying the witch Lillith when she briefly imitates vampiric protagonist Nadja.[[/note]]

** [[PerkyGoth Helena Garcia]] from Series 10. Everyone was captivated by her pleasant personality and her unabashed love for all things spooky, creepy and macabre, giving her a unique vibe and aesthetic that no other baker has ever had in the Bake Off. The fact that she and Noel instantly hit it off and had great chemistry together made fans love her even more, and much like with Liam, fans were heartbroken at her elimination. [[note]] Her dark horse status was, in fact, so great that it's been recognized outside GBBO. Despite not being a professional actress, Helena had a small part in "Series/WhatWeDoInTheShadows", portraying the witch Lillith when she briefly imitates vampiric protagonist Nadja.[[/note]]

** [[PerkyGoth Helena Garcia]] from Series 10. Everyone was captivated by her pleasant personality and her unabashed love for all things spooky, creepy and macabre, giving her a unique vibe and aesthetic that no other baker has ever had in the Bake Off. The fact that she and Noel instantly hit it off and had great chemistry together made fans love her even more, and much like with Liam, fans were heartbroken at her elimination.

* TheScrappy:
** Ruby of Series 4 was not well-received by some due to accusations of favouritism from the judges and a tendency to constantly put herself down regardless, which many saw as annoyingly-false modesty after a while.
** Series 7 winner Candice also proved to be a divisive contestant, not only due to more accusations of favouritism, but several cases of Ruby-like self-depreciation and false modesty; coming off to many as smug, immature, and passive-aggressive. Ruby frequently defends Candice on Twitter, as both have been unfairly targeted by sexist abuse and accusations of supposedly being fancied by Paul Hollywood.
** Stacey, from Series 8, was seen by some as an EliminationHoudini who overstayed her welcome while several more popular bakers -- most notably Julia, Yan and Liam -- got the axe.
** Kate from Series 8 was a more mild example; largely because she was not eliminated instead of Liam despite having both an equally-poor showstopper, and literally ''dropping her clanger on the floor'' and serving it afterward; a serious no-no in any cooking environment.
** Rahul from Series 9 rubbed some viewers the wrong way by constantly being nervous and apologizing to the judges that his bakes didn't taste or look good only to get glowing praise every time and being an EliminationHoudini who, despite slouching and placing near the bottom in the two episodes leading up to the finale (and not doing particularly well in the finale, either), managed to win the competition.
** While Series 10 Winner David is widely agreed to have been the standout baker of the final episode, and a decent baker on the whole, many fans felt that his win was undeserved. He was the only finalist since Season 2 never to win Star Baker, and the first winner ever to have not done so. Both other finalists, Steph and Alice, had generally solid performances and multiple Star Baker wins -- two in Alice's case, four in Steph's -- but had mediocre weeks: as [[HeroicBSOD Steph's nerves got to her completely]], and Alice [[DiabolusExMachina had received the bad news earlier that day that her parents' flight to the ceremony had been cancelled]], resulting in her being unfocused. As a result, many feel that he only won due to ill-timed mistakes on their part.
** Laura in Series 11 had elements of this. While she was consistently praised for her flavors, her bakes tended to be sloppy, and she frequently performed poorly in technical challenges, meaning that she was often saved only because another baker had significantly messed up their showstopper. Although it was clear that she was a talented baker, many viewers felt that she made it all the way to the finals due to luck rather than skill.

** Liam from Season 8. He was a happy-go-lucky guy who, at 19, was the youngest baker of the season. His charming personality, overwhelming kindness, and noted ability to making great flavor combinations, made everyone fall in love with him. Everyone was happy we he got "Star Baker", but also a massive wave of sadness hit the fanbase when he was eliminated.

** Ruby of Series 4 was not well-received by some due to accusations of favouritism from the judges and a tendency to constantly put herself down regardless, which many saw as annoyingly-false modesty after awhile.

** While Series 10 Winner David is widely agreed to have been the standout baker of the final episode, and a decent baker on the whole, many fans felt that his win was undeserved. He was the only finalist since Season 2 never to win Star Baker, and the first winner ever to have done so. Both other finalists, Steph and Alice, had generally solid performances and multiple Star Baker wins -- two in Alice's case, four in Steph's -- but had mediocre weeks: as [[HeroicBSOD Steph's nerves got to her completely,]] and Alice [[DiabolusExMachina had received the bad news earlier that day that her parents' flight to the ceremony had been cancelled,]] resulting in her being unfocused. As a result, many feel that he only won due to ill-timed mistakes on their part.

** And for that matter, Series 9's "Vegan Week", which even Paul Hollywood seemed to think was ridiculously hard.

-->'''James Acaster:''' Started making it. Had a bit of a breakdown. ''({{Beat}})'' Bon appétit!

* CriticalResearchFailure: Series 11's "Japanese Week" came in for intense criticism for, amongst other things, asking the contestants to bake "pork buns" (baos) for the signature challenge, which are of ''Chinese'' origin.

* ValuesDissonance: Much is made of how harsh Paul is in his judging, but this seems to be a British thing, as he doesn't seem harsh at all to the American audience. He certainly tells contestants the truth about their bakes, but his criticism is ''always'' constructive; he never says, "Wow, you suck, you're a horrible baker," and he often explains where they went wrong and what they might have done better. Also, he gives out praise quite readily when contestants do well.
* WhatAnIdiot: Channel 4 was widely considered to have made a huge gamble by buying the rights to GBBO without first securing any of the four hosts. After Mel, Sue and Mary left, it looked like they spent >£25 million a year on a tent and Paul. However, the C4 seasons have done pretty well (despite - [[TheyChangedItSoItSucks admittedly unavoidable]] - complaints from ardent fans of the old cast). Sandi, Noel, and Prue managed to endear themselves to the fanbase -- particularly Sandi, who was already more or less considered an adopted national treasure.

* UncannyValley: Though it definitely saved him from leaving in the first week, quite a few people were disturbed by [[https://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/bake-2018s-terry-gave-everyone-13156548 Terry's 3D portrait from Series 9.]]

* UnexpectedCharacter: Due to the show's enormous popularity, the celebrity charity specials have managed to convince a lot of big names to appear, including Bonnie Wright, Michael Sheen, Teri Hatcher and John Lithgow.

** Rahul from Series 9 rubbed some viewers the wrong way by constantly being nervous and apologizing to the judges that his bakes don't taste or look good only for them to love them every time and being an EliminationHoudini who, despite slouching and placing near the bottom in the two episodes leading up to the finale (and not doing particularly well in the finale, either), managed to win the competition.

** Rahul from Series 9 rubbed some viewers the wrong way by constantly being nervous and apologizing to the judges that his bakes don't taste or look good only for them to love them every time and being an [[EliminationHoudini]] who, despite slouching and placing near the bottom in the two episodes leading up to the finale (and not doing particularly well in the finale, either), managed to win the competition.

** Rahul from Series 9 rubbed some viewers the wrong way by constantly being nervous and apologizing to the judges that his bakes don't taste or look good only for them to love them every time and being an [[EliminationHoudini]] who, despite placing last in the technical three times, managed to win the competition.

** Ruby of series 4 was not well-received by some due to accusations of favouritism from the judges and a tendency to constantly put herself down regardless, which many saw as annoyingly-false modesty after awhile.

** While Season 10 Winner David is widely agreed to have been the standout baker of the final episode, and a decent baker on the whole, many fans felt that his win was undeserved. He was the only finalist since Season 2 never to win Star Baker, and the first winner ever to have done so. Both other finalists, Steph and Alice, had generally solid performances and multiple Star Baker wins -- two in Alice's case, four in Steph's -- but had mediocre weeks: as [[HeroicBSOD Steph's nerves got to her completely,]] and Alice [[DiabolusExMachina had received the bad news earlier that day that her parents' flight to the ceremony had been cancelled,]] resulting in her being unfocused. As a result, many feel that he only won due to ill-timed mistakes on their part.

* ShockingElimination: Helena's ouster during the roaring 20's week on Series 10. She was middle of the road in the Signature and middle to below Average Showstopper, though Prue did say she thought it did taste okay, but she did win the Technical challenge, making her not be among the worst bakers when taking all three challenges into consideration. The outcry of fans in social media was huge.
** Jurgen in Patisserie Week of S12. He was widely considered to be the best baker that year, along side Giuseppe and had won Star Baker three times. However, it was, admittedly a close call, especially considering that he and the other bakers were the only ones to win Star Baker that year and all of them got a handshake at one point. Also, the judges admitted that all of them were in the running to be Star Baker. The outcry of fans was also large.

* EliminationHoudini: One pops up in viewers' eyes every few seasons, often because their strength lies in flavors (which are obviously impossible to convey on television) rather than presentation. One example is [[spoiler:Laura]] from Series 11, who made the final despite being one of the bottom two considered for elimination several times and surviving against fan-favorites who'd only had one bad week such as [[spoiler:Lottie, Mark, and Hermine]]. The fact that the judges admitted that said contestant was a non-factor in the decision of the ultimate winner made viewers wish even more strongly that someone else had made it instead.