The Great British Bake Off boss admits the much-criticized Season 13

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The Great British Baking Show Executive Producer Richard McKerrow has held his hands up and admitted that Season 13 of the hit baking competition series was “not our strongest.”

McKerrow’s comments come after fan criticism over the 13th season, which aired on Netflix in the U.S.

Many viewers found the challenges overly complicated and the judging too harsh. There was also a backlash towards a Mexican-themed episode for being culturally insensitive — the episode featured hosts Matt Lucas and Noel Fielding wearing sombreros.

Ahead of Season 14, which begins filming in April, McKerrow spoke with The Media Podcast about the reaction to the 13th season and explained how things will be put right for the upcoming season.

“I’d be the first to hold up our hands and say that I feel that the last series was not our strongest,” McKerrow said (via Deadline). “You’ve got to take a look at it and go, ‘S***, [are] the challenges too complicated?’ We’re looking very, very, very hard at making sure that it’s as good a series as it can be.”

McKerrow admitted to a sense of fatigue last year coming off the back of two seasons filmed during pandemic lockdown conditions. “We had two series, which we had to film during Covid,” he explained. “The team here just went to enormous efforts and enormous sacrifice to get that filming done in a bubble.”

However, he said he understood the audience feedback and clarified that he and the team are taking the criticisms on board. “You have to take very, very, very good care of it. So when people are criticizing either the challenges have become too complicated or whatever, you know, that’s something we take seriously.”

McKerrow also touched on the search for a new host following Lucas’ departure at the end of the last season. “It’s safe to say we are getting there. And I think well, given that we have to start filming in April, I would hope that we will have some news for you within the next few weeks,” he stated.

“The most important thing is to find someone who realizes that the real heart of Bake Off is: love the bakers, love the baking. Someone who’s curious and someone who cares and understands.”