Winning Star Baker on The Great British Bake Off is the one thing each baker looks forward to every week.

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However, for the contestant who wins Star Baker in week four, things could be different as we enter what should really be known as 'The Bake Off Curse Zone'.

Last year, the Bake Off curse was revealed whereby the person who wins Star Baker in week four never goes on to win the entire series of the Channel 4 baking show.

Since the beginning of the competition in 2010, and across all 10 series, no competitor who has won Star Baker in week four has gone on to win the whole thing.

To be precise, over 60 per cent of those winning the Week Four accolade ended up being the runner up in the past shows - including 2019 baker Steph Blackwell who finished runner up to David Atherton.

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Great British Bake Off 2020
Great British Bake Off 2020 Channel 4

So what does that mean for future bakers on the show? And could this year's Week Four Star Baker suffer the same fate?

On 13th October 2020, viewers watched as Mark was crowned Star Baker after impressing the judges with his brownies, babka Technical and showstopping white chocolate cake in Chocolate Week.

It was a very tough week for the bakers, who were made to work with chocolate in the warm weather, with Prue warning: "white chocolate is a nightmare to work with."

But does Mark have what it takes to defy the odds and beat the Bake Off curse? That's what we really want to know.

It's hard to say, given this is the first time he has won Star Baker in the series. Peter was the first baker to win the title, followed by Dave and Marc.

If Mark had won prior to this or was to go on and win the accolade again, the odds could be tipped slightly...

While last year's winner David Atherton is the only contestant to win the whole series without ever winning Star Baker, most winners of the show are those who win Star Baker in episodes two and five.

These contestants have won the show three times, including 2018 winner Rahul Mandal who won in the second week.

Great British Bake Off 2020
Great British Bake Off 2020 Channel 4

Therefore, if Mark had say won Star Baker in week two, there is a chance he would have been able to outweigh the curse and pull through to the finals.

Of course, there's still Week Five, which could be Mark's second chance to break the curse - but the trailer didn't exactly fill us with confidence...

But as we've seen with previous years, it's likely the project manager could suffer the same fate as former contestant Steph - who won Star Baker a total of four times, including in Week Four, yet still missed out on the top spot.

Despite winning in Weeks Four and Five - which is said to have produced the most winners - it seems it just wasn't enough for Steph to break The Bake Off curse.

Neither were her wins in Week Six and Eight. Based on previous years, star Baker in eight or nine have won the show twice, whereas the winners of one, three, six and seven have won just once.

Yet, Steph still couldn't break the curse, despite all her other Star Baker wins, which surely should have increased her chances of winning the show.

Thus makes us wonder if it's best to coast through week four and keep a Showstopper in the bank for Week Five. That way bakers will be three times more likely to win the Channel 4 series.

Or better still, the bakers could get lucky like David and just ride it out all the way to the end!

Of course, this isn't much help for Mark who has already won Star Baker. We'd like to think he could turn it around, but with a curse so strong, we wouldn't be surprised if history did repeat itself!

Having said that, there are many weeks left in the competition, so who knows what he's got up his sleeves.

We sure hope it's enough to put an end to the curse once and for all!

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The Great British Bake Off is on Channel 4 at 8pm. To keep up to date with the latest Great British Bake Off news, see here. If you’re looking for more to watch, check out our TV Guide.

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