Fans of “The Great American Baking Show” should keep an eye out for a Delaware face during the May 5 season premiere on the Roku Channel.
Susan Simpson, 64, from Harrington, is one of nine contestants selected to be on season six of the popular baking competition show.
“The Great American Baking Show,” a spin-off of the original series “The Great British Bake Off” (called “The Great British Baking Show” in the U.S.), pits amateur bakers against one another during a 5-week competition in London. In the end, the last baker standing claims the title of baking champion.
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While Simpson is making her small screen debut, this isn’t her first time auditioning to be on the show.
Simpson frequently competes in culinary competitions at the Delaware State Fair, and when a group of women mentioned the show to her back in 2015, she knew she had to apply.
“I’m a highly competitive person who loves to bake, and the two just seemed to go together well,” she said.
Although it took her five seasons of auditioning before she got a callback last spring, the opportunity still proved to be a pinch-me moment.
“I got a call that I had been accepted as a contestant, and the person who called me, I asked her to repeat because I thought I wasn’t hearing it right,” said Simpson. “I said, ‘Could you just say that again please? I just want to hear it twice.’ So it floored me!”
A stay-at-home mom since her now-adult children were born and a self-proclaimed homebody, Simpson found it “very unusual” and “quite scary” to be away from her husband for the duration of filming, the first time they have been apart for so long in their 40-year marriage, she said.
But those reservations quickly disappeared when Simpson met the other contestants, whom she was met when she arrived at their housing complex. She immediately knew they were as passionate about baking as she is.
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“At our first meeting there in London, I fell in love with everyone,” she said. “It was unbelievable how much we bonded so quickly. It felt to me like we were the American Olympic baking team staying in the UK to compete.”
The contestants even created a group chat to lend a helping hand when someone needed an ingredient or misplaced a kitchen gadget.
The close-knit family they created made it hard to say goodbye to one another as eliminations took place, frequently leaving Simpson teary-eyed, she said.
Simpson describes the filming process as an “exhilarating experience,” adding that one of her favorite parts of being on the show was the adrenaline rush she got every time they walked into the tent.
Having her creations critiqued by show judges Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith, along with other bakers whose cookbooks she has loved for years, was an experience unlike any other, she said.
“I grew and learned so much from them. It was encouragement to me as a baker and how I can grow. I will never forget that,” said Simpson.
Since filming ended, Simpson has become an even bigger fan of the show. And although she no longer lives next door to her fellow contestants, that doesn’t stop them from keeping in touch.
“Since we got back, we have a group chat that we do on WhatsApp and we talk probably every day,” she said.
The group talks about their personal lives, shares recipes and asks questions, and recently met up in Chicago.
“We have had a bond that I would not imagine has lasted now getting close to a year,” she said. “We really have become a baking family.”
With the show premiere finally here, coincidentally on her 64th birthday, Simpson is celebrating the special occasion in the most fitting way possible: baking for her family and watching the season debut together.
To take her watch party up a notch, her guests will be treated to the first three baked goods she made for the show.
“I’m sharing what I did in the tent, with my family, and they can be eating whatever it is while Paul and Prue critique it,” she said. “That’s my birthday present to myself.”
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