Great British Bake Off’s Homemade Jam Requirement Stopped Lena Dunham From Competing

If you put a bunch of celebrities in a baking competition, the only person who would come out victorious is Taylor Swift. When Lena Dunham was asked to participate in the celebrity version of The Great British Bake Off, she was shocked by how strict the rules were for the version filled with non-professional bakers. “I thought, ‘Surely they can’t expect that much of us. They’re calling in actors and writers,’” she told Amy Poehler on the Good Hang podcast. Dunham then explained that she spoke to a producer, who said the first challenge would be a crumpet that “expresses who you are.” The Famesick writer had the perfect idea. “I have British shorthair cats. They’re gray. I could do a crumpet that had like um some gray coloring and then do ears on it and then eyes, and it could be like my cats as a crumpet,” she suggested. The producer liked her idea and added that she could make an almond butter and raspberry jam for the treat, but warned that Paul Hollywood was “not comfortable with any store-bought jams or butters.” A man with Hollywood in his name would not expect anything less.

Unfortunately, it seemed like the celebrity version was still too intense for Dunham, who even consulted a friend about teaching her how to bake. But once she realized that production wouldn’t even help her turn on their fancy ove, she was out. “We’re out of here. I’m sorry, guys,” she concluded. “I love to try to become an expert at something really quickly, but this was way beyond anything that I could handle.”