Great British Baking Show 2026: Netflix US Release Date and Full Schedule

For most of September there was only half a schedule: Channel 4 had a date and Netflix did not. That is over. The US premiere is Friday, Sept. 25, three days behind the UK broadcast — exactly the gap Collection 13 ran on. Here are both halves in one place, week by week.

When does The Great British Baking Show come back to Netflix?

Friday, Sept. 25, 2026. Netflix put the date on its own Tudum page with a first-look trailer, and the weekly pattern is unchanged: one episode every Friday until the finale, 10 in all.

The drop time is 12 a.m. Pacific, which is 3 a.m. Eastern — so for anyone on the East Coast the episode is technically there before breakfast Friday, not Thursday night.

The UK side starts first. Series 17 opens Tuesday, Sept. 22 at 8 p.m. UK time on Channel 4 and runs Tuesdays from there, which puts Britain three days ahead all season.

How far behind Channel 4 is the Netflix release?

Three days, and it has been three days for a while. Collection 13 is the comparison that made the Sept. 25 date predictable before Netflix confirmed it — it trailed Channel 4 by exactly three days at both ends of the run:

Run that rule against a Sept. 22 UK start and you land on Friday, Sept. 25 — which is the date Netflix went on to announce. The useful consequence is that the rest of the season is now predictable too: whatever Tuesday Channel 4 airs, the Netflix episode follows that Friday.

The practical catch for American viewers is spoilers. Every Tuesday for 10 weeks the result is public in the UK three days before you can watch it, so UK press coverage, the show's own social accounts and the aftershow all run ahead of the Netflix drop.

What changed in the tent this year?

The judging panel, for the first time in nine years. Prue Leith stepped down in January, putting it plainly: "I'm 86 for goodness sake!"

Nigella Lawson takes the seat beside Paul Hollywood. Noel Fielding and Alison Hammond are both back presenting, so the change is one chair, not a rebuild.

Twelve amateur bakers compete, and the field spans a wide age range — 21 to 67, per Netflix's cast page. Among them is Gabe, 32, an artist and drag king who performs as Blü Romantic.

Who are the 12 bakers?

Netflix published the full line-up with the trailer. First names only, which is the show's house style until the episodes air; week one's result is in the box at the top of this page:

Three things are new in the tent besides the judge: an Audience Choice Week built from viewer submissions, a fashion-themed challenge, and a week where bakers' family members come in to help. The last one is the kind of idea that either produces the season's best showstopper or its worst argument.

What is Audience Choice Week?

A first for the show. Viewers were invited to submit challenge ideas — signature, technical, showstopper, or all three — and one week of the series is built from what came in. Submissions closed on Jan. 18, 2026, and the show opened it to international fans as well as UK ones.

There was no prize attached. If your idea makes the tent, you get to watch twelve strangers suffer through it on television, which the show seems to think is reward enough.

What is Second Helpings, and can Americans watch it?

It is the replacement for the old aftershow. Channel 4 and Love Productions announced Second Helpings as a new-look companion series hosted by Jon Richardson, with Judi Love alongside him each week and a celebrity guest in the studio, going over the episode's biggest talking points and best bakes.

It airs the same night as the main show in the UK, which is the point — no waiting days to talk about it. Hosts and judges Hammond, Fielding, Hollywood and Lawson turn up with behind-the-scenes stories.

For US viewers, the honest answer is that companion shows have historically not travelled to Netflix with the main collection. Assume you are getting the 10 core episodes and nothing else unless Netflix says otherwise.

Release schedule, week by week

Both premieres are confirmed. Neither broadcaster has published a full episode list beyond week one, so the dates from week two down are built from the confirmed Sept. 22 / Sept. 25 starts, a 10-episode run (the length of each of the last three series) and the Tuesday/Friday pattern.

👉 If that holds, the final lands on the Friday after Thanksgiving, which is roughly where last year's finale sat too.

How do you watch it in the US?

Netflix, and only Netflix. There is no US cable window, no next-day network airing, and no free option — the Channel 4 stream is geo-locked to the UK, so a US IP address will not get you in.

Netflix drops new episodes at 12 a.m. Pacific, which is 3 a.m. Eastern. Anyone in New York wanting it fresh is either up very late Thursday or watching Friday morning like a normal person.

Older collections stay on the service, so the back catalogue is there while you wait. Our wider view of what is landing weekly is in next week’s cooking lineup, and the season-long picture across networks is in the fall cooking competition schedule.

FAQ

What date is The Great British Baking Show on Netflix?
Friday, Sept. 25, 2026, at 12 a.m. PT / 3 a.m. ET, then a new episode every Friday.

Who was Star Baker in Cake Week, and who left?
Mo was Star Baker, and nobody left: Shannon fell ill during the showstopper, so the judges sent no one home in week one. Netflix has the episode on Sept. 25.

Is Prue Leith still a judge?
No. She announced her departure in January 2026 after nine series. Nigella Lawson replaces her; Paul Hollywood stays.

How many episodes are in the new season?
Ten, released one per week, which puts the finale on Friday, Nov. 27 if the weekly pattern holds.

Can I watch the UK broadcast from the US?
Not legitimately — Channel 4's stream is restricted to the UK. Netflix is the licensed US route.

While you wait, the American competition slate is filling up fast: Hell's Kitchen season 25 starts Sept. 24 on FOX, Halloween Baking Championship season 12 is two episodes in on Mondays, and the rest of the Food Network weeknights are tracked in Food Network Competitions and Baking Championships. FOX's other kitchen hour has its own home in MasterChef, Ramsay's Thursday show in Hell's Kitchen, and every explainer we have written sits in the Guide index. If you want the stand mixer and the proving baskets rather than the drama, that is Gear They Used, and cable-free setups are covered in how to stream Food Network. Across the network, weekly streaming drops are tracked at Streaming On Air and competition eliminations at Reality On Air.

Sources · Listings data via TVmaze · Channel 4 press — Second Helpings companion show · The Great British Bake Off — Audience Choice Week · PinkNews — Sept. 22 return date, cast and judging change · Hits Radio — start date and line-up · What's on Netflix — Collection 14 US release window · TV Insider — Collection 13's Sept. 5, 2025 Netflix date · Netflix Tudum — Sept. 25 date, trailer and the 12 bakers · TV Insider — Collection 14 premiere date and first look (Sept. 16) · ABC Audio — Netflix sets Sept. 25 · The Independent — week one Star Baker, nobody sent home · Media Mole — Cake Week result and Shannon's exit from the showstopper

By the Kitchen On Air desk · Updated Sept. 22, 8:45 p.m. ET