WHEN they lost The Great British Bake Off to Channel 4 three years ago, the BBC hit back with rival show The Big Family Cooking Showdown.
But it struggled in the ratings — and has now been axed by BBC2 bosses.
It debuted with a respectable 2.2million viewers in August 2017, fronted by Zoe Ball and 2015 Great British Bake Off winner Nadiya Hussain, and judged by Michelin star chef Giorgio Locatelli and cookery teacher Rosemary Shrager.
But neither of its two star presenters returned for the second series the next year, as 2017 Celebrity MasterChef winner Angellica Bell, and Michelin chef Tommy Banks stepped in as co-hosts and judges — and the ratings slumped to 1.3million while 6.5million watched The Great British Bake Off.
The show did not appear in the schedules last year as it was quietly sidelined — and now the BBC has confirmed: “There are currently no plans for another series of The Big Family Cooking Showdown.”
The show was an obvious imitation of Bake Off, except families took to the kitchen to create dishes.
A show insider added: “Channel 4 saw this show as such a rival to Bake Off that they decided to air their show on the same night, at the same time.
“But the BBC backed down and moved their show from a Tuesday to a Thursday — grumbling that the clash wasn’t in the best interests of public service broadcasting.”
It’s fair to say, the BBC lost the big showdown with Channel 4.
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