The Great British Baking Show returns to Netflix on Friday, September 29 with a new cast of bakers and a new co-host for Noel Fielding, Alison Hammond. However for all that’s brand spanking new in the tent, the show’s producers have teased that this season will be a return to the gentler, simpler early days of the hit show with an emphasis on old school technique versus “Mexican Week“-esque disasters. No where is this revamp more obvious than when you look at the official bios of the 2023 Great British Baking Show bakers. There are Victorian era obsessives, 1970s cookbook connoisseurs, and a ton of heartwarming tales of learning how to bake alongside mum.

The Great British Baking Show — also known as The Great British Bake Off everywhere but the USA and Canada (where Pillsbury owns the rights to the phrase “Bake Off”) — first premiered back in 2010. Early seasons were anchored by the tender advice of Paul Hollywood’s original judging partner Mary Berry and the sweet comic rapport of real life besties Sue Perkins and Mel Giedroyc. As the show became a monster hit world wide, Love Productions took the show off the BBC and brought it to rival network Channel 4. BBC loyalists Berry, Perkins, and Giedroyc were out, and Prue Leith, Noel Fielding, and a rotating roster of co-hosts were brought in. The bakers started to arrive with more media savvy and the challenges became increasingly more focused on style over substance, resulting in last year’s much maligned season of GBBS.

When The Great British Baking Show returns this week, it will also be attempting to return to the formula that made it a hit in the first place. Bubbly British broadcaster Alison Hammond will attempt to bring some much-needed positivity to the tent while the dozen new bakers will have to show off their skills for an increasingly discerning international audience.

But who are the twelve new bakers competing for the honor of taking home the legendary cake stand? Where can you follow them on social media? And what are our first impressions of these sweet souls based on their official bios? Here’s your guide to the bakers heating up the tent in The Great British Baking Show 2023…