Record audience as millions tune into Bake Off’s big controversy

The controversial episode – in which contestant Iain Watters dumped his “showstopper” baked Alaska dish to cause an unlikely national kerfuffle – drew 10.25 million viewers, now catch-up viewers have been added on.

It means the programme has become one of the BBC’s highest-viewed programmes of the year.

Only World Cup screenings, New Year fireworks, Sherlock and Call The Midwife have scored more than 10 million viewers for the “consolidated” figures, which bring together live and catch-up viewing.

The previous high for Bake Off was the 2013 final which had a consolidated score of 9.4 million with the programme shown on BBC2, prior to the move to a new channel for this series.

Watters’ culinary catastrophe came after fellow contestant Diana Beard took his dish out of the freezer prompting many viewers to call for him to be reinstated. She subsequently pulled out of the show due to ill health.

One of the show’s judges Mary Berry has revealed that she wants to launch her own fashion line.

The 79-year-old, who became something of a trendsetter when a jacket she wore on the TV show sold out in hours, said that she hated some items of trendy women’s clothing.

She told Glamour magazine in an interview: “I would do good, stylish cuts in durable fabrics that hem well and don’t crease – that’s why I never wear linen, because I like things to look pristine.”