Bake Your Way Into My Heart ✔️

Episode 1: Cake Week

Liam wonders to himself for the millionth time what on earth he is doing here as the taxi pulls up to the grand entrance of Down Hall Hotel. The former English country Manor House turned hotel is the filming location of the Great British Bake Off and apparently where they would all be staying too.

He is seriously considering telling the taxi driver to just take him back home again. It's the first time he's leaving Bear for a whole weekend and he misses him already. Gillian is more than capable of looking after him, he knows that in principle and he trusts her but it doesn't stop him worrying.

Just then the door of the taxi opened and a guy with glaringly blonde hair sticks his annoyingly happy face into the car.

"You coming out or what then mate?"

Everything about him is far too cheery and bright and Liam doesn't like it but he takes a deep breath and begrudgingly gets out of the car. After all he's here now and he'd never hear the end of it from Gillian if he chickened out. The man leads him up the steps, holds the ornate front door open for him and gestures him inside. Then he goes back outside, presumably to wait for the next arrival.

By the front desk is the producer he recognises from his audition. She is around the same age as the man, maybe slightly older perhaps but certainly mid 30's. Her bushy brown hair is trying to be tamed back into a professional looking ponytail. She's looking rather formal with a clipboard in one hand, pen in the other and a walkie talkie clipped to the waistband of her pencil skirt.

The official looking woman reintroduces herself as Olivia which is good as Liam had quite forgotten her name. She checks Liam in and gives him the key to his room along with an information pack for the weekend and then holds out her hand expectantly for his phone.

He sighs. He knows about this of course, it's all in the other information pack that had been posted out to him last month but he still isn't thrilled about being away from his phone for the whole weekend. It's necessary to stop contestants looking things up on Google to help them out and prevent them taking photos and posting spoilers on social media too. He understands it but that doesn't mean he likes it.

Rationally he knows it would be fine though, so he hands it over. He had programmed the hotel number as well as the emergency number the production team had supplied them with into Gillian's phone himself and checked she knew about them three times before he left the house. He'd also written them on a post-it-note on the fridge and by her bed.

Olivia points out a few key things in the itinerary he'd been given such as meal times, when the practice tent would be open for use and when the actual filming would happen. After that he's on his way to his room with his small black suitcase.

He is quite impressed with the room, nowhere near the size of his Master Suite at home of course but it's bigger than he expected it to be with a sizable bathroom and even a relaxing little lounge area.

Letting out a long sigh, he sinks down onto the surprisingly grand bed. He's still feeling pretty anxious, it' better now he's here and checked in but he still needs to see the tent, familiarise himself with all the equipment and know exactly what's expected of him for the filming process before he would start to relax.

Plus there are still all the other contestants to meet not to mention the actual baking. He wonders again what on earth he's letting himself in for before opening the information packet and beginning to read. By the time he starts getting ready for dinner he's read it cover to cover four times but still feels nervous.

***

At 6:45pm precisely he leaves his room to go down for dinner. He's been ready for at least twenty minutes but he doesn't want to be too early. He's changed his outfit three times but in the end had settled on his favourite pair of super skinny grey jeans, the ones Gillian always says made his "little bottom look divine" and a plain black shirt. He wants to look nice but quite honestly he'd be quite happy to just blend in.