Series: The Great British Bake Off Series 7

AHHHHHHHHH! GBBO SPOILERS!!!!

I've been watching GBBO since Series... 4? Or 3, I think? In any case, before I even watched it, I loved the idea of a British baking reality show - I mostly imagined people holding back their feelings and referencing tea every so often.

I wasn't totally wrong, haha!

I won't say much about GBBO, because honestly, there isn't much to say review-wise. I love watching it because 1) British people, 2) BAKING. I mean, what else do you need? The hosts are hilarious and are a good example of what encompasses British humor, the contestant are all talented and are their own characters, the judges are entertaining and actually articulate their thoughts pretty well, which you really really need in a show where the TV audience can't directly experience the subject matter. Also, lots of unintentional innuendos - hilarious. Soggy bottoms!

Mostly what I want to talk about in this entry is the winner, Nadiya. I don't think I've ever cried in a final as much as I did in the GBBO final - it was a fresh wave of tears for every person they interviewed after Nadiya's win was announced. There was really an overall feeling of everyone having won because Nadiya won, and I think one Twitter user put it best when s/he said something to the tune of, Nadiya is probably the most beloved reality show contestant who's actually won. And it's true.

In the beginning, I remembered Nadiya for her gigantic expressive eyes which left nothing to the imagination in terms of what she was thinking. Often, she was unsure of herself and seemed to be internally freaking out, especially during judging for technical challenges. This made her endearing, because her fear of being judged was so genuine, and her eyes were really comically huge and expressive. To be honest, I found her anxiety somewhat annoying, if only because I liked watching people who seemed to know what to do and were quietly confident. But eventually Nadiya wore me down, and I started liking her.

I found it ridiculous that she thought so little of herself when her bakes (not the technicals though, haha) were consistently praised for using bold flavors and being very original. How much she's changed in the season, from someone who seemed to question herself at every step, to someone who admits in the end that she did her best to get everything perfect, to someone who says she'll never doubt herself again - it was all too much, and I was bawling pretty heavily by the end. Even Mary Berry cried!! God.

So, thank you Britain, and thank you, Nadiya. Great season, and looking forward to the next series!