CBC’s The Great Canadian Baking Show season 7 amateur bakers announced

CBC recently revealed the new batch of amateur bakers who will compete in the upcoming season of The Great Canadian Baking Show, premiering Sunday, Oct. 1.

Season seven of the series will consist of eight episodes, plus one bonus holiday special. Comedians, actors, writers and Second City alumni, Alan Shane Lewis and Ann Pornel return as hosts, alongside esteemed pastry chefs and expert judges Bruno Feldeisen and Kyla Kennaley.

Based on the beloved British format, each episode features the bakers competing in three challenges – the Signature Bake, the Technical Bake, and the Show Stopper – during which they will rely on their personal interests and backgrounds to ensure that their delectable dishes stand out. Once their dishes have been tasted and critiqued, the judges will decide who will be the week’s Star Baker and who will be sent home. In the final episode, the remaining three bakers will face off for the title of Canada’s best amateur baker.

Meet this season’s 10 bakers:

Heather Allen (she/her), 40, a literacy educator from Winnipeg
Andy Bui (he/him), 30, a nurse practitioner from Montreal
Andrew Evers (he/him), 40, a public service manager from Toronto
Loïc Fauteux-Goulet (he/him), 32, a teacher from Creston, B.C.
Camila García Hernández (she/her/they/them), 28, a software engineer from Toronto
Sydney Hayden (she/her), 23, a student from Halifax
Rainier Maksoud (he/him), 29, a business analyst from Laval, Que.
Kathy Neiman (she/her), 57, a retiree from Leduc, Alta.
Candice Riley (she/her), 48, a tech consultant from Brampton, Ont.
Niv Saberi (she/her), 31, a full-time parent from Port Elgin, Ont.

This year new episodes will be available to stream Sundays on CBC Gem starting at 9 a.m. ET, followed by broadcast on CBC TV at 8 p.m. (8:30 NT) local time.