James McAvoy is the Hottest Baker in ‘Great British Baking Show’ History

James McAvoy gave a masterclass on hotness when he showed up The Great British Baking Show tent for Stand Up to Cancer this week. The X-Men, Split, and Children of Dune* star wowed Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith with his lemon meringue pie and His Dark Materials-inspired cake, but what’s more important is that he was really sexy doing it. Like, McAvoy brought a chocolate-melting level of heat to the tent, folks. And we’ll never be the same again.

The Great British Baking Show is such a big deal in the UK — where it’s known as The Great British Bake Off — that it’s now a sort of tradition for celebrities and comedians to enter the tent every so often for charity bake offs. Often these special episodes air only in the UK as part of fundraising efforts, but we still are graced with short clips and memes of memorable moments over here in the States. Up until now, the most famous celeb moment in the tent belonged to comedian James Acaster, who perfectly described his own breakdown in the tent. Today, though, James McAvoy smashes that meme-able moment with a sizzle reel of Great British Baking Show fandom, steady baking skills, smoldering stares, double entendres, and one pitch perfect Gandalf impression.

McAvoy didn’t just visit The Great British Baking Show tent, he basically wooed it (and us) into submission. From the jump, where playfully makes a dirty play on words about how “wet” his dough is to the moment he gets Paul to drop a hint about a piping bag, he shows a knowledge of the show that only a true devoted fan would know. McAvoy isn’t just a hot celeb entering the tent on a lark. He obviously knows how this show works. He also evidently knows how baking works, as he picks up the title of Star Baker. But that’s just one layer of McAvoy’s insane hotness.

You see, James McAvoy is a hot nerd. That has always been his brand. He started off as Leto Atreides in a Sci-Fi miniseries and a faun in Narnia. He has consistently embraced genre roles with enthusiasm and a geek’s awareness of what sci-fi and fantasy needs from actors. McAvoy underlined this with his Tolkein references and His Dark Materials-inspired cake. And it’s just really sexy to see a hot actor lean into the dorky side of himself. It’s why people go nuts watching Henry Cavill build his gaming computer or learning about Joe Manganiello’s Dungeons and Dragons group. McAvoy showed his nerd cred in the Bake Off tent and it was sublime.

Celebrities enter the Bake Off tent for fun and for charity. James McAvoy did that and reminded the world why he’s a stone cold hottie.

Fingers crossed someone at Netflix is on an international call to see if we can get the rights to these charity Bake Off episodes stateside (because we usually don’t!).

*Yes, I have crushed on James McAvoy since he starred in Children of Dune.

Watch The Great British Baking Show on Netflix