AS NEW SERIES OF THE GREAT
THE first episode of the new series of Great British Bake Off starts with a number of contestants crumbling under the pressure.
Two bakers forget key ingredients in the first challenge of baking drizzle cakes while another, Rav Bansal, slashes his finger with a knife.
He moans: “I did have a moment where I panicked and I cut myself within 30 seconds of us starting.”
At the end of the first challenge, judge Paul Hollywood describes one of the opening cakes as “awful” and another as “very dry” – and even kind Mary Berry says one effort is “very messy”. A show source said: “Nerves really show in the first episode, it is the contestants would improve after getting used to the cameras and overcoming nerves.
Mary added: “Oh yes, they certainly have nerves. They know us inside out, Mel and Sue, the tent because they have watched all the previous episodes. But they don’t know each other and that makes them hesitant.
“They are very nervous about baking and talking to the cameras. They don’t do that at home. That takes a little bit of settling down.”
Paul said: “I see their nerves. You get them to hold their hand out and they are really shaking. I normally go around and get to know them more.
“It calms them down and they realise I am a normal human being.”
GREAT British Bake Off fans’ excitement will be rising faster than the dough as a new crop of wannabe bakers hits the screen tonight.
But what has become of previous contestants from the past six series?
We catch up with some memorable faces from the famous marquee to see who has hung up their apron – and who’s got the icing on the cake...
VIEWING FIGURES: 2.8m WINNER: Edd Kimber
THE show’s first winner Edd Kimber, 31, packed in his job as a debt collector in Bradford two days after he’d finished filming, headed for London and has never looked back.
He says: “After uni I got a temp job as a debt collector and before I realised it, I’d been working there for four years. Thankfully Bake Off got me out of it. As well as food writing I also work on photoshoots as a food stylist, making food look pretty and as delicious as possible. I love it. But it’s not all glam – I also have to do loads of washing up.”
He adds: “I’ve never done the job for money, I care more about being happy. I’d love to open my own cafe one day.”
Even though he was booted off half way through the first series, David Chambers still gets recognised. The 39-year-old craft cider company owner complains: “That show haunts me. I still get recognised even now. I hated how fabricated the episodes were and it was so heavily edited.”
Lovable Welsh bus driver Mark Whithers was knocked out of the competition in round one. Sadly, he died from cancer in May 2013, aged 51. His wife Elaine said: “My husband was quite a character and people loved him — I miss him every day.”
VIEWING FIGURES: 4m WINNER: Jo Wheatley
HOUSEWIFE Jo Wheatley, from Essex, has been one of the most successful contestants ever – selling 70,000 copies of her four books, generating £500,000. She is preparing to open her first restaurant.
“I was a stay-at-home-mum without much confidence before,” Jo says. “So winning the show was massively lifechanging. I can now treat my husband and kids. My best advice to contestants is to keep calm under stress and enjoy it.”
After appearing on the programme dad-of-three Keith Batsford ditched the UK for New Zealand with his family and focuses on racing retro motorbikes for a living. Since his notorious finger-slicing incident and subsequent elimination in bread week, Ian Vallance remains a keen amateur baker on the side. He is now deputy director of fundraising for charity Asthma UK and is planning to run the London Marathon to raise money.