It's one of the biggest shows on TV, but part of its winning formula is down to a rather well endowed animal, it seems.
Yes, millions of people tune in to see how masterfully the contestants can whip up a Victoria Sponge or some buns, but it wouldn't be quite the same without the little squirrel with the massive balls.
The well hung little creature has featured on
Bake Off since the 2011, giving fans a light-hearted cut-away from all that hardcore, pressure-cooker baking.
It was filmed in the grounds of the
Bake Off mansion in Redbridge, London, with a bizarre lingering shot and became a cult figure on the show.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSx4d075tQM
So you can imagine how
GBBO fans reacted when they tuned into the new series to find that the grey squirrel and his impressive nuts had been given the boot by BBC bosses.
Despite becoming a beloved feature on
Bake Off among some fans, it had been replaced by a boring old pheasant which, to be quite honest, isn't going to win any willy-swinging contests in the near future.
Fans picked up on the missing squirrel straight away, and they were not best pleased...
https://twitter.com/vbcatlady/status/768865396929757184
https://twitter.com/Cohengoldstein/status/769089689089376257
https://twitter.com/snacktimey/status/768688887174533120
https://twitter.com/Smuvs13/status/768570468437819396
https://twitter.com/shorttom/status/768545537272508416
https://twitter.com/lovehappyapple1/status/768543034388676608
https://twitter.com/magicsparklepie/status/768540204042969089
https://twitter.com/elleyro/status/768538164181032960
https://twitter.com/crazy_bitch88/status/768537566324850689
https://twitter.com/Tessicat/status/768537487614611456
https://twitter.com/AGayToRemember/status/768533466526998528
https://twitter.com/timaddicott/status/768533404157612032
https://twitter.com/sam_fitch/status/768533309257289728
With so many fans crying out for the return of the big-balled squirrel on the show which clocked up a record 10.4 million viewers for the first episode of the seventh series, questions had to be asked.
The Sun got onto the BBC about it and a source
told the paper: "We simply work with whatever nature has given us, and this year it gave us pheasants."
We don't think that's going to wash. Bring back that squirrel....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpcCpMCZXo0
Image credit: BBC
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