The Great American Baking Show introduced a new judge to the competition in season 4 - here’s why the change was necessary. The Great American Baking Show is a cooking show where six bakers compete in the hope of being dubbed America’s Best Amateur Baker. The show is an adaptation of the hugely popular BBC programme The Great British Bake Off, where Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood acted as judges,

Since The Great British Bake Off launched in 2010 it’s become something of a beloved national institution, which later led to The Great American Baking Show debuting on ABC in 2015. Nia Vardalos (My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2) and Ian Gomez served as the hosts for the first two seasons of the show, with Ayesha Curry hosting season 3 and singer Emma Bunton taking over for season 4. While the American version hasn’t proven to be quite as popular as it’s British counterpart, it’s been a hit for ABC.

Mary Berry acted as a judge for The Great American Baking Show for the first two seasons, with Paul Hollywood joining in season 3 alongside Anthony Adams. Season 4 aired in 2018 with famed pastry chef Sherry Yard coming onboard as a new judge. Yard was a replacement for former judge Johnny Iuzzini, who appeared in the first three seasons of the show.

Only two episodes of The Great American Baking Show season 3 have been aired, with ABC pulling the rest of the episodes in December 2017 following a number of sexual misconduct and abusive behavior allegations made against Iuzzini. The network acted swiftly by firing and cutting ties with the former judge and the remaining four episodes of season 3 have gone unaired, though some edited highlights from these unseen episodes were later released online. ABC later announced contestant Vallery Lomas won the competition, with Molly Brodak and Cindy Maliniak being runner-ups.

The Great American Baking Show returned for a fourth season in late 2018, with former Spice Girls member Emma Bunton acting as the new host. Baker Tina Zaccardi was ultimately declared the winner of the series. Yard made for a great judge for the new series, having previously acted as judge for cooking shows like Top Chef, Iron Chef America, and Sugar Showdown, amongst many others. The ratings for The Great America Baking Show season 4 was down from previous years, however, so it’s unknown if it will return for a fifth season. That said, given the popularity of the series, it feels like a safe bet the show will be back again.

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