The second episode of the 2023 season of The Great British Baking Show on Netflix was devoted to all things biscuit. The bakers showed off their skills making marshmallow biscuits, custard creams, and illusion biscuit display showstoppers. However, the bakers also showed off their ever-growing rapport with hosts Noel Fielding and Alison Hammond. Sure, we’re already at the point where a baker like Keith Barron can jokingly shoo Alison away, but the real jaw-dropper of a comic moment happened when Noel and Matty Edgell started joking about tattoos…and Noel teased that he has a tattoo of Great British Baking Show winner and all-star Rahul Mandal on his bum?!?
The Great British Baking Show Collection 11 debuted on Netflix last week, introducing us to a whole new class of bakers to fall in love with. Among the pack was Matty Edgell, a 28-year-old sports enthusiast and teacher who doesn’t seem to have a great grasp on bridal fashion. (In his background package, his fiancée asks which white gown on a rack he likes best and he admits they all look the same to him.) Matty also is a guy whose arms are covered in complex tattoos, a feature Noel Fielding took the time to compliment before launching into an impromptu bit.
“I like your tattoo,” Noel says. “If you win, you’ve got to get another tattoo…If you win, we’ll both get one.”
“GBBO?” Matty laughs as he points to an unmarked spot on his arm. GBBO is, of course, the British acronym for the series, which is called The Great British Bake Off everywhere but the U.S. and Canada. (Why? Because Pillsbury owns the rights to the phrase “Bake Off” in those territories.)
An acronym isn’t good enough for Noel, who giggles as he says, “I’ll get one of you on my chest.”
“Not on your back?” Matty asks.
“I’ve got one of Rahul on my bum.”
Noel and Matty fall into hysterics. Even more laughter comes from off-camera suggesting the production team actually broke at this suggestion. And that would make sense. After all, Rahul Mandal is simultaneously the first and last person a true Bake Off devotee would get tattooed on their bum.
If this is the first season of The Great British Baking Show you’ve ever watched — or if you’ve got a bad memory — Rahul Mandal was the incredibly talented and adorably idiosyncratic baker who won the show in 2018, aka Collection 6 on Netflix. Rahul had a wild run on his season, taking back-to-back Star Bakers in Weeks 2 and 3 before landing in the top for the next four weeks in a row. He was technical and precise in everything he did. He was also hilariously loquacious; infamous for long tangents only matched by his marathon-length comments on Instagram.
Now, I’m 99.99% sure that Noel Fielding was just joking about having a tattoo of Rahul’s face on his butt. Like, he was making a funny. However, if there is even a possibility that Noel Fielding tattooed Rahul’s sweet face on his pasty white behind, then I think we need to see it. It needs to be shared with masses. (Okay, now I’m joking.)
What I will say, though, about this little aside is that I need Dr. Rahul Mandal to comment on it. As someone who follows The Great British Baking Show winner on social media, I’m well aware that he keeps up with Bake Off on the regular. He’s constantly shouting out the new bakers and wishing them well. He also comments on the official Instagram posts about the weekly shows. That means that Rahul heard Noel say he has a tattoo of Rahul on his bum. Rahul must have had an opinion about this! But so far? SILENCE.
Maybe I don’t need to see a tattoo of Dr. Rahul Mandal’s face on Noel Fielding’s buttocks, but I do need to know what Rahul thinks of this joke. For science, for society, and for the love of The Great British Baking Show.