Bake Off final cooks up one of C4’s biggest ever audiences

The final of this year’s the Great British Bake Off was watched by one of the biggest audiences in Channel 4’s 35-year history, new figures show.

Full ratings for the Bake Off’s October 31 final, which saw Sophie Faldo crowned the winner, were a massive 10 million.

The number, which includes people who recorded the show and watched up to seven days later, is Channel 4’s fourth biggest audience of all time.

The largest audience in Channel 4’s history was for the final episode of the TV miniseries A Woman Of Substance, which was watched by 13.9m viewers in January 1985.

In second place is a screening of Four Weddings And A Funeral in November 1995 (12.4m), while third is a showing of Gregory’s Girl in January 1985 (10.8m).

The 10m figure for this year’s Bake Off final is almost six million lower than the number who watched last year’s final on BBC One, which attracted an audience of 15.9m.

It is also below the ratings for the finals on BBC One in 2014 (13.5m) and 2015 (15.1m) – but above the 2013 final, when the show was still on BBC Two (9.5m).

Last year, the show’s production company Love Productions sold the Bake Off to Channel 4 after seven series at the BBC. Paul Hollywood was the only original star to make the jump, with previous judge Mary Berry and presenters Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins opting out.