Great British Bake Off Episode Four: Did Iain Watters Deserve To Go For His Self-Confessed Meltdown?

Well THAT was unexpected.

Dessert Week was ticking by with a little more drama than usual, as the summer sunshine made an appearance.

Little did we know what lay ahead...

There he was, just minding his business, preparing his showstopper Baked Alaska, when Iain Watters' chances of winning the Great British Bake Off 2014 melted away.

Diana, the eldest contestant this series, had taken it upon herself to remove Iain's work from the freezer. Next thing we see is the Northern Irish baker discovering his dessert, binning it and storming off.

The drama. Iain took one look at his Baked Alaska and, ignoring presenter Sue Perkins's attempts to stop him, immediately dumped his entire project into the bin.
The horror on his fellow bakers' faces was captivating viewing. This was new territory for the controversy-free, family-friendly series. Is this what life on BBC One holds for Paul and Mary?

It was almost refreshing to see such a display of emotion on the show though, even if it did ultimately cost Iain his place. He was angry, and in the heat of the moment, reacted badly. We've all been there, we can all sympathise.

What galled me the most was Diana's apparently lack of apology. She simply didn't care as she justified her actions by highlighting that there was another fridge Iain could have used. As the bakers were dealing with the hottest day of the year, it seems the fridges and freezers were in very high demand....

I was bitterly disappointed to see Iain leave the show. He had showed great promise and progress over the last month, and while his hot-headed reaction was unfortunate, I did expect the judges to show some more understanding for his actions and take his baking skill into account.

Iain did not deserve to leave while there are, without doubt, weaker bakers still present.

It's almost testament to the show's peak popularity that the social media outcry was so strong last night. The "meltdown" front pages today are a bonus, free PR as non-viewers wonder what on earth they've missed out on.

Of course, this is a storm in a very small teacup. A wonderful extra day of headlines; the only topic of conversation worth having around the office water-cooler today.

Amazingly, Paul and presenter Sue Perkins were quite taken aback by the reaction. Their social media presence left them dealing with the complaints, the shock and even the campaign to have Iain and his wondrous beard reinstated. Welcome to TV viewing in the 21st century.

Campaign launched, memes created, Wikipedia entry updated... Diana was the number one topic of conversation, even coming with her own #DirtyDiana hashtag.

As much as I disagree with the judges’ decision, this kind of reaction is laughable, and somewhat embarrassing. Tweeting abuse to a reality show judge or even towards a 67-year-old woman? Come on now, this is now what the Great British Bake Off is all about.

Aren't we all just a little mortified that Paul had to write: 'I'm glad Mary's not on twitter this would upset her. #enoughnow'. Let's leave this kind of behaviour for the jeering rent-a-mob audiences we don't associate with a baking competition.

The hottest day of the year got everyone hot under the collar. Iain moved on months ago when they filmed his self-confessed meltdown. Let's put this little blip in the showstopper bin, eat some Baked Alaska and CHILL OUT (Sorry Iain).

[The Great British Bake Off Episode Three: Should Norman Have Been Sent Home For Keeping Things Simple?]

[Great British Bake Off Review: It's Back!]