The winner of "The Great British Bake Off" has always been shrouded in mystery. After all, so much is at stake -- fame, cookbook deals, as well as the possibility of their own TV show.
But Tuesday brought the ultimate in "Great British Bake Off" spoilers. New judge Prue Leith accidentally tweeted the name of this season's winner 12 hours before the finale was to air, and sent baking Twitter into a tizzy.
SPOILER ALERT: If you're curious, read further down for the name.
Leith quickly deleted the tweet, and apologized profusely to the show's fans for the Halloween horror.
I am so sorry to the fans of the show for my mistake this morning, I am in a different time zone and mortified by my error #GBBO.
— Prue Leith (@PrueLeith) October 31, 2017
Leith, a well-known British author who replaced the beloved Mary Berry as one of the head judges, blamed her mistake on misjudging the time difference between Britain, where the show airs in the evening, and Bhutan, where she is taking a holiday.
Speaking to Britain's Press Association, Leith said, "I'm in Bhutan. The time difference is massive. I thought that they got it six hours ago. I'm in too much of a state to talk about it. I f***** up."
Ratings for "The Great British Bake Off" have largely held up since Berry and co-presenters Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins left the show before this season.
The show moved from the BBC, Britain's equivalent of public television, to Channel 4, a commercial station. The show generally draws about six million viewers on a typical Tuesday night, when it is broadcast over the air in Britain, and a total of about 8.9 million when those who stream the show online are included.
American views have been able to watch the final three seasons including Berry, Giedroyc, Perkins and co-judge Paul Hollywood on PBS and Netflix. (It is called the Great British Baking Show in the U.S., where Pillsbury owns the rights to the phrase "bakeoff.")
The public television network has a commitment to air one more season of the BBC version, but has not yet said whether it will air the new, Berry-less version of "Bake Off."
I've watching this season of "Bake Off" via the web, and noticed similarities and differences from the BBC production.
For one thing, this season's bakes have been far more British focused than the show might have featured in the past. One episode focused on forgotten pastries that will be mysterious to many Americans, even those with baking backgrounds.
Leith, known for her distinctive glasses, and new co-presenters Sandi Toksvig and Noel Fielding have worked well with Hollywood, who is now the unquestioned star of the program.
The contestants have been the strongest part of the show, but to the chagrin of many viewers, including me, the finale did not include any diverse candidate.
SPOILERS START HERE
The three final bakers were two women and one man: Sophie Faldo, Kate Lyon and Steven Carter-Bailey.
And the name that Leith tweeted? Sophie. ("Bake Off" winners generally go by their first names, so I'll use hers from here out.)
I actually posted a couple of weeks back that Sophie would win "Bake Off." She had the most camera presence, her bakes were consistently good, and she looks like she can be a success in the world of cookbooks and media.
It's important to Channel 4 and the "Bake Off" production company to show that this season's Bake Off winner is marketable beyond just Britain.
American viewers of "Bake Off" provide a valuable fan base for the show, and the more attention Sophie gets as winner in Britain, the better the show's chances to continue on American TV and on streaming services.
It's too soon to tell whether Sophie can have a career like Nadiya Hussein, the 2015 "Bake Off" winner, who has become a British media phenomenon and got to bake a cake for Queen Elizabeth's 90th birthday.
But, thanks to Leith's ill-timed tweet, Sophie got a head start.
