More than seven million people tuned in to watch Rahul Mandal crowned the winner of The Great British Bake Off, overnight ratings have shown.
The nail-biting finale of the baking series drew an average of 7.5 million viewers when it aired at 8pm on Tuesday.
The broadcast, which lasted for one hour and 20 minutes, peaked with 8.6 million viewers.
The winner of The Great British Bake Off 2018 is… RAHUL! #GBBOFinal pic.twitter.com/Kv3eukTZJd
— British Bake Off (@BritishBakeOff) October 30, 2018
The figures have remained steady year-on-year, as last year’s final – the first time it aired on Channel 4 after the show moved from BBC One – drew an average of 7.7 million viewers in the overnight ratings.
Overnight figures include those watching the episode on Channel 4+1.
However, Channel 4’s Bake Off has yet to reach the heady heights of the programme’s days on BBC One.
The last series that aired on the channel in 2016 ended with an overnight average of 14 million viewers, the highest the baking competition has ever had.
Numbers for the latest Bake Off final are expected to grow when consolidated data is taken into account.
The overall ratings for last year’s final, which saw Sophie Faldo crowned the winner, were 10 million.
The number includes people who recorded the show and watched up to seven days later, and was Channel 4’s fourth biggest audience of all time.
Rahul fended off competition from Kim-Joy Hewlett and Ruby Bhogal in the tense finale, which saw the three finalists tasked with cooking pitta breads and three dips on an open campfire, among other challenges.
Disaster also struck in the final showstopper challenge when the 32C heat in the tent caused a storage jar on Rahul’s workbench to shatter, sending glass everywhere, meaning he had to restart his bake.