Great British Bake Off episode slapped with warning for being ‘too spooky’

A Great British Bake Off Halloween special was deemed scary enough to be dished out with a trigger warning for its spooky episode.

Channel 4 family favourite show, that airs before the 9pm watershed, has decided that its first-ever Halloween Week from 2022 now "isn't suitable for younger viewers" and a warning was added to the online episode.

The cautionary note, displayed under a red "Guidance" icon, was attached to the sixth episode of that year's series - appearing on the app and website before viewers hit play but has since been removed, The Sun reports.

Current host Noel Fielding and his 2022 co-host Matt Lucas can be seen dressed in Halloween-inspired outfits in the episode in question, with the baking tent adorned with balloons, fake skeletons and spider webs to mark the scary tradition.

Participants, including the series' champion Syabira Yusoff, were featured crafting apple and pumpkin creations for judges Prue Leith and Paul Hollywood.

While warning labels are typically reserved for content containing explicit language, violence, or nudity, they have also been affixed to vintage sitcoms due to "language of the time".

The publication reports how senior Tory MP Sir John Hayes commented on the bizarre warning, stating: "Most people find these types of trigger warnings very bizarre. The idea that the Great British Bake Off could be risky or dangerous is for the birds."

However, it seems the warning may have been added in error. Bosses claiming it was a mistake and removed the symbol.

A Channel 4 spokesperson said: "The Great British Bake Off is a family show, loved by audiences of all ages. Any guidance warnings were applied in error."

It comes as Paul Hollywood recently shared an insight into what goes into judging the show’s contestants as the number of bakers reduces over the course of the series.

The star, 58, who has been on the Channel 4 programme since it started on the BBC nearly 15 years ago.

“It gets harder as you go through, as there’s so little between the bakers,” Paul told TV Times. “We used to worry over whether enough good people would apply for the show, but now we think, ‘How are we going to judge them?’ as they’re so good from the start.”

Great British Bake airs on Tuesday at 8pm on Channel 4