Foxtel announces new judges for The Great Australian Bake Off

British cookbook author Rachel Khoo and famed Melbourne pastry chef Darren Purchese have been announced as the new judges for The Great Australian Bake Off.

They will be joined by new hosts Natalie Tran and Cal Wilson on the Foxtel baking show, reports TV Blackbox.

Based on the popular British format, the wholesome series co-produced by BBC Australia and New Zealand pits amateur bakers against one another as they face culinary challenges and are judged on the results. 

Filming on the 2023 season began in Sydney this week.

Khoo, 42, and Purchese, 47, will be mentoring the 12 contestants over 10 weeks.

Author of six cookbooks, Khoo rose to fame on British television and has served as a judge on Channel Seven’s My Kitchen Rules. 

Purchese is known to viewers as a guest judge on Channel 10’s MasterChef Australia, and is the author of five cookbooks.

Author of six cookbooks, Rachel Khoo (pictured) rose to fame on British television and has served as a judge on Channel Seven’s My Kitchen Rules 

Tran earned plaudits for her supporting role in Foxtel’s cult hit Mr Inbetween; however, most viewers will know the 36-year-old comedian as a YouTube star.

Co-host Wilson, 51, is a former star of I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! and is a regular on Channel 10 panel show Have You Been Paying Attention?

The news follows Foxtel’s announcement in early August that original judges Matt Moran and Maggie Beer would not be returning for another season.

Darren Purchese (pictured) is known to viewers as a judge on Channel 10’s MasterChef Australia, and is the author of five cookbooks

The streaming giant also confirmed that co-hosts Claire Hooper and Mel Buttle would be replaced too.

Earlier reports had suggested Beer was unimpressed when network bosses tried to replace her co-stars ahead of the 2022 season.  

According to New Idea, the 77-year-old restaurateur was ‘forced to put her foot down’ after Foxtel executives threatened to ‘shake up her co-panel’ of presenters.

New host Natalie Tran (pictured) earned plaudits for her supporting role in Foxtel’s cult hit Mr Inbetween; however, most viewers will know the 36-year-old comedian as a YouTube star

This included Moran, presenter Buttle and comedian Hooper.

Debuting on Channel Nine with Shane Jacobson as host in 2013, The Great Australian Bake Off ran on the network for one season before picked up by Foxtel’s Lifestyle Channel in 2015. 

The show was canned in 2020.

The new team replace Matt Moran and Maggie Beer and hosts Mel Buttle and Claire Hooper

Rumours quickly began swirling that the show would make a comeback on free-to-air television by replacing My Kitchen Rules on Seven.

However, it was confirmed in July last year that Foxtel had re-secured format rights to the franchise and would begin airing season five in 2022. 

The 2022 season wrapped in April with Ella Rossanis, a 36-year-old mother of three from Perth, voted Australia’s Best Amateur Baker in the season finale.