The much-anticipated first episode of series 17 of the Great British Bake Off aired on Tuesday (23 September), with Nigella Lawson making her debut as the new judge on the show. The nation tuned in to see how Nigella would make her splash, and hold her own alongside long-standing judge Paul Hollywood - and we weren't disappointed.

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It was a dramatic first foray into the tent for Nigella, with not one but two toppling disasters, a slew of innuendos, a few tears and lots of laughs. The star replaces Prue Leith as judge and, in her very first episode, Nigella proved with a single line that she was more than a match for fellow judge Paul Hollywood.

The telling exchange took place when the pair were judging the contestants' go at Nigella's technical challenge - a coffee and walnut cake created from a drawing only, with no provided recipe. Paul gave Nigella a measured warning as they tucked into the long line of cakes. 'You've got to pace yourself,' Paul told her. 'I don't have many skills, but eating is one of them,' Nigella quipped back, much to Paul's amusement. That told him!

It was clear from the first episode that the pair have great bond, strong working relationship and weren't afraid to give their opinions, even when their views differ. So far, we learned that newest judge Nigella is a fan of a good dose of salt in a bake, and enjoys what she refers to as 'bright' flavours.

While the new judging line up was off to a strong start, the same couldn't be said for some of the bakes produced by the new crop of contestants. The first most most notable mishap took place during round one - the signature challenge. The contestants were tasked with creating a chocolate stout cake in their own style, but things didn't go to plan for Molly, who's perfectly baked bundt toppled out of the oven and onto the floor. After a few breaths of air, she whipped up a fresh sponge so she still had something to present to the judges.

The next victim of a cake catastrophe was Danni, who watched in horror with the rest of the contestants from outside the tent as the top layer of her showstopper (a multi-layer, self portrait cake) slid gradually off and hit the ground. Luckily, for the first episode there was a welcome surprise when it came to elimination time, as it was decided that nobody would be sent home in week one - much to Danni's relief. Phew!

The Great British Bake Off airs on Tuesdays at 8pm on Channel 4