The Great Kiwi Bake-off Christmas Special: A-list stars go head-to-head in the kitchen

Abundant festive food colouring and chocolate ooze is all part of the madness when celebrities compete for charity in The Great Kiwi Bake Off Christmas Special. Photo / Supplied

Abundant festive food colouring and chocolate ooze that looks like poo is all part of the madness when celebrities compete for charity in The Great Kiwi Bake Off Christmas Special on TVNZ 1 on Sunday night.

Host Hayley Sproull and judges A-list chef Peter Gordon and The Caker, Jordan Rondel, put Breakfast hosts Anna Burns-Francis and Chris Chang, Shortland Street alumnae Sam Bunkall and Angela Bloomfield and dancers Lance Savali and Elvis Lopeti through their creative paces.

The rivalry of the Breakfast hosts will come to the fore on the show, according to Burns-Francis. “I did think Chris was going to be competition and he prove to be,” Burns-Francis tells Spy.

“We have a reputation for being reasonably competitive with each other already, so we wouldn’t even talk to each other about what we were planning for this.”

Hayley Sproull and judges Peter Gordon and Jordan Rondel put celebrities through their creative paces. Photo / Supplied

Burns-Francis admits there were multiple kitchen disasters and some of the contestants didn’t learn from their mistakes and went on to repeat them.

Chang says he was determined to keep up with “baking Queen Anna” and although he knew he could cook, his nerves were shattered, quickly learning that baking is a whole different ball game. “I baked a cake for the first time a week before filming, so I wasn’t going in totally cold, but even that couldn’t prepare me for the first challenge,” says Chang.

And he says he won’t be baking on Christmas day - instead, attending to the barbeque.

“I loved the energy of the competition even though it was total chaos, which he says was mainly caused by Savali and Lopeti,” Chang says.

Bunkall won’t be found in the kitchen on Christmas day either, and even though he has watched his fair share of cooking shows, finding himself on the other end of the camera was something else entirely.

“Feeling that adrenaline and pressure, and also getting to answer some burning questions about what goes on behind the scenes of a show like that was a dream come true, " says Bunkall.

Sproull says whenever the show does their celebrity specials, the bake-off barn gets a huge injection of fresh energy that is equal parts - chaos and fun. Photo / Supplied

“Having next to no baking experience meant I could just enjoy myself and actually learn a thing or two. It was an exhausting day though and I have no idea how the contestants can do it day after day, they’re amazing,” he says.

The host and judges had a ball taking part in and judging the madness and Sproull says whenever the show does their celebrity specials, the bake-off barn gets a huge injection of fresh energy that is equal parts chaos and fun.

“A high for me was watching Sam approach the judges’ table with his showstopper - it broke me and I was holding back laughter the whole time,” says Sproull.

And chef Gordon says to expect a lot of green food colouring, hats and trees: “Six wonderful and hilarious bakers all slightly nervous, and Hayley, Jordan and myself judging macaroons and 3-D cakes in the middle of winter for a summer show was memorable and a lot of fun,” he says.

As for US-based Rondel, who will be spending her first white Christmas with her boyfriend in Detroit, she shared that even though they filmed six months ago, somehow it felt like Christmas.

“This was one of my favourite episodes ever to film, everyone was having a laugh, the mood was light and relaxed, and we just had fun with it,” she says.

“Elvis and Lance in particular made the whole filming experience a total hoot.”