Kitchen without chaos
Host Daniel Levy enjoys ‘uplifting’ Great Canadian Baking Show
Debuts Wednesday, CBC
On the surface, comedy star Daniel Levy’s hosting role on The Great Canadian Baking Show may seem ironic.
After his days making audiences laugh on several MTV Canada after-shows, he had no interest in hosting a TV show again, says the star and co-creator of Schitt’s Creek.
And he’s a terrible baker, he admits. “It is almost stuff of legend how bad I am as a cook,” Levy said with a laugh. “I’m an invitee to a dinner party. I’m not the person who’s inviting you over.”
Yet when Levy watched the wildly popular BBC series The Great British Baking Show on Netflix, he got swept up in its thoughtful portrayal of amateur confectionery makers competing in a series of challenges.
“I found myself being quite moved by a show that prides itself not on tearing people down but rather lifting people up,” he said. “It is a competition-based show but the competition isn’t about bakers talking trash about each other or sabotaging each other. It’s about the baker and their oven, not the baker and the baker beside them.”
Levy became a “diehard” fan and tweeted that if the show ever came to Canada, he would love to throw his hat in the ring to host.
“I woke up the next morning to a barrage of tweets back at me not only letting me know that it was coming to Canada but that it was coming to CBC,” he said. “By the end of the week I had got a call asking if I was legitimately interested.”
Debuting Wednesday, The Great Canadian Baking Show features a diverse slate of 10 amateur bakers, from a human rights lawyer to a dentist and a graphic designer.
In each episode, they compete in visually sumptuous culinary challenges over three rounds — the Signature Bake, the Technical Bake and the Show Stopper. The final three then compete for the Great Canadian Baking Show title.
Levy co-hosts alongside British actress Julia Chan. Pastry chefs Bruno Feldeisen and Rochelle Adonis serve as judges.