10m tune in for Doncaster baker Val Stones as Great British Bake Off returns with record figues

The BBC1 show, which features former primary school headteacher Val Stones, 66, among its contestants, attracted an average of 10.4 million viewers as it returned for a seventh series.

The episode was watched by 47.5% of all television viewers with a peak audience of 11.2 million at 20:50.

That means it beat the most-watched moments of the Rio Olympics, which peaked at 11.1 million viewers.

Jane Beedle was named the first star baker of the series while church minister Lee Banfield - the oldest contestant at 67 - was the first to leave after judge Paul Hollywood said one of his cakes was too dry.

Val, who now lives in Yeovil, survived the first week - despite a series of mishaps and baking blunders during the show.

Some 13.4 million people tuned in to see Nadiya Hussain win the last series, making it the most-watched programme of 2015.

Last year's opening episode was watched by 9.3 million viewers, according to overnight figures, peaking at 10 million.