BAKE OFF’S TOM HIDES SAD SECRET
Twin killed by Taliban
THE identical twin of a Great British Bake Off contestant was killed while serving in Afghanistan.
Architect Tom Hetherington lost his brother Robert, 25, in 2013 after a Taliban explosion hit his armoured vehicle in Helmand province.
Tom, 29, was one of the new batch of bakers revealed this week for the latest series of Bake Off, which relaunches on Channel 4 on Tuesday.
The architect, who lives with partner David in Edinburgh, says his brother inspire him in everything he does.
Strength
He says he wants to approach life as Robert did, challenging himself every day and striving to push his mental and physical strength at every opportunity.
The Edinburgh University graduate runs marathons all over the world, raising money for the Royal British Legion and Poppy Scotland.
He said: “With every training session I can hear Robert pushing me to go a little faster, a little harder.
“Completing another marathon will be a testament to the strength I have gained from him and to show the strength he used and showed regularly.” ® Private Robert was just six weeks into his tour when he was killed by an explosive hidden in a tunnel under the road. Corporal William Savage, 30, and Fusilier Samuel Flint, 21, also died.
An inquest into their deaths ruled they were unlawfully killed, as the soldiers were not alerted to signs of insurgent activity which had been picked up by a surveillance system in the hours before they died.
Tom will not mention his brother during the programme, but will discuss his mother teaching her children to bake.
The talented hopeful has already won a legion of fans on social media, who have tipped the Scottish hunk to win. In the first challenge, he will bid to impress judges Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith with a pear and cardamom cake.
The show, controversially poached from the BBC for £75million, needs to attract three million viewers to break even, Channel 4 says. At its peak, a total of 15million tuned in. BEEB boss Charlotte Moore says letting Bake Off leave for Channel 4 was a “difficult moment” but had to be done to pay for other shows. The head of content added: “I wish them well.”