Did anyone else get déjà vu watching this week’s episode of The Great British Baking Show? We sure did. Something feels a little… 2021.
Spoilers ahead for the semifinals of The Great British Baking Show.
Let us set the scene. We have a baker, whose name starts with “J,” and he wins Star Baker twice within the first few weeks of the show. His odds of winning are high, and he strikes up a great number of fans online for his fantastic bakes. We all fall in love with him. He’s like Paddington Bear-levels of sweetness! Above all, it’s nice to know someone we adore will end up in the final round.
And then, the week before the finals roll in, suddenly, he’s eliminated. Say what?
Yes, we’re talking about 2021 contestant Jürgen and, now, this season’s newly eliminated Janusz. Janusz did fall off a bit in the past weeks—unlike Jürgen, who won Star Baker for a third time two weeks before he was sent home—but most of us were expecting the beloved Polish baker to at least make it to the final round, if not win the whole damn thing. Alas, after the haunted missing-spring-roll crisis, something had cursed the poor baker.
Janusz couldn’t live up to his stellar competitora’ bakes after a lackluster technical performance and a bummer of a showstopper. Though Janusz’s strong suits have been desserts in the past—particularly cake—he failed to step up to the task for Pâtisserie Week. Syabira and Sandro, who’ve both won Star Baker in the past weeks, unsurprisingly made it to the final round. Abdul finally took home his first Star Baker title ever, clinching his spot in the finals over Janusz.
But the sting of losing Janusz in the same way fans lost Jürgen was hard to ignore.
“Justice for my robbed European kings,” one Twitter user cried out. More fans of The Great British Baking Show hopped on the Janusz farewell train, rallying for their favorite baker in his final days on the show.
Janusz later shared an adorable letter parting ways with the show, as well as a goodbye tweet to all of his fans. In the tweet, sweet Janusz revealed there was a secret message behind his clothing on the show: He was wearing all the colors of the pride flag that he could fit into his time on GBBS.
“I DID IT! Being chubby, gay and the first Polish national contestant on GBBO I knew I had a lot to represent walking into the tent,” Janusz wrote. “I wanted to do this by being myself but also set myself a little challenge to wear a colour of the pride flag each week and hope that I could tick them all off!”
Janusz will go down in the GBBS hall of fame, not only for his fantastic bakes (and frequent drip cakes), but also for his wonderful shirts. He ended his letter in the spunkiest, most Janusz way possible: “Janusz has left the tent.”
Heading into the finals, though, three similarly adorable contestants still remain. Sandro, Syabira, and Abdul have all proved themselves as fantastic bakers and charming personalities over the past few weeks—but who will win? Whatever happens, surely, they’ll have their old pal Janusz to cheer them on in their final moments on The Great British Baking Show.
