#Berrygate: Great British Bake Off addresses longtime viewer frustration with opening sequence replace
The Great British Bake Off creative team has recreated its title sequence to address a long-standing viewer complaint.
For years, the hit baking competition — known as The Great British Baking Show in the U.S. — has frustrated fans with its opening credits, which feature a chocolate cake topped with raspberries that many believe is missing one berry in the bottom-right corner.
On Wednesday, April Fool’s Day, the series finally fixed the missing raspberry in an updated intro shared on Instagram.
“We’ve made a little raspberry-shaped change for the new series,” the caption read.
The clip begins with a series of fan messages about the missing berry. “BAKE OFF, EXPLAIN YOURSELVES #BERRYGATE,” one person said, while another commented: “The missing raspberry is stressing me out.”
The words, “You asked. We listened,” appear on screen before the opening launches into the familiar upbeat theme tune as a woman prepares an afternoon lunch. Everything else remains the same, including a hand putting the final raspberry on the cake. However, the end screen, showing the series’ title over the raspberry cake, has been fixed to include an additional raspberry in the available spot.
Several fans have expressed their relief over the changed title sequence, with one commenting: “So satisfying.”
“THIS IS THE TWIST OF THE CENTURY,” a second noted. Meanwhile, a third questioned: “Is this just April Fools or is raspberry gate really over?”
“Elite April Fool’s joke,” another praised.
The missing raspberry has been a recurring topic on the show for many seasons. In 2014, Bake Off judge Paul Hollywood even weighed in, posting an Instagram picture of a squirrel eating a raspberry. “This is the culprit that stole the missing raspberry from the opening titles of bake off cake!” he wrote in the caption.
During the season 13 premiere in 2022, bakers were challenged to make the signature chocolate and raspberry cake, as co-host Alison Hammond quipped: “What ever happened to that raspberry?”
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“I’ve got it right here,” co-host Nigel Fielding jokingly replied, holding up a gold jewelry box with a raspberry. “That’s my pension. I’ll be selling that on eBay.”
The Great British Bake Off is preparing to premiere season 17 later this year. The new season will welcome Nigella Lawson to the judging panel. She replaces Prue Leith, who announced in January that she would be leaving the series.
“Bake Off has been a fabulous part of my life for the last nine years, I have genuinely loved it and I’m sure I’ll miss working with my fellow judge Paul [Hollywood], Alison [Hammond] and Noel [Fielding] and the teams at Love Productions and Channel 4,” the 86-year-old said in a statement.
“But now feels like the right time to step back (I’m 86 for goodness sake!), there’s so much I’d like to do, not least spend summers enjoying my garden.”
