Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith, the judging duo behind both The Great British Bake Off and The Great American Baking Show, recently broke down what really sets U.S. bakers apart from their British counterparts as the American spin-off returned for a new season on The Roku Channel.
It comes down to quantity and sweetness
According to TV Insider, Hollywood and Leith said the gap is less about skill and more about scale and sugar. American contestants tend to bake larger, use more whisked sponge, lean heavily on banana and pecans, and reach for noticeably higher levels of sweetness than British contestants typically do. "They're not better, they're different," Hollywood told the outlet, while Leith agreed the most measurable contrast is in portion sizes and overall sugar content rather than any gap in skill.
A similar approach, just a louder personality
Beyond ingredients, the judges noted American bakers are often more demonstrative on camera. They speak up, react to each other, and are visibly more animated during judging. Leith said the underlying technique on both shows is broadly the same; the audible difference, she observed, is mainly in how aggressively sugar is used in recipes such as frostings, fillings and glazes, and in how Americans embrace bold, dessert-forward flavor combinations.
Prue Leith stepping back from the franchise
The conversation also lands in a transitional moment for the franchise.The Hollywood Reporter notes that Leith has been a judge on the U.K. show for nine seasons and the U.S. version for four. In January 2026 she announced she would be leaving the franchise, making her current comparative observations among her last as a sitting judge. The U.S. show's current hosts Andrew Rannells and Casey Wilson also feature in the conversation alongside the two judges.
Why the comparison resonates
The two judges' framing turns a familiar fan debate — are American bakes really sweeter? — into something more practical: the recipes and ratios differ, but the standard of judging does not. For viewers who follow both versions, that explains why the same critique can land very differently on either side of the Atlantic, and why an American sponge that wins on Roku might be called "over-sweet" in the British tent.
