THE DALAI LAMA’S SNAPPER AND A GAY PIN-UP

THE show’s teacher’s pet, Ian Cumming, left, a travel photographer, from Great Wilbraham, Cambridgeshire, won Star Baker three weeks running in the first half of the series.

But the tide of public opinion turned when it was reported he had been having l essons from a friend, the head of catering at Trinity College. A Bake Off spokesman denied the claim, saying: ‘ Ian has not broken any rules.’

He also raised eye - brows — and turned a few stomachs — with his ‘roadkill pie’ in Victorian week. He admitted he regularly sources meat f rom dead animals he finds by the road near his home.

Ian, 41, works as the official photographer for the Dalai Lama when the religious leader is visiting Britain, and was recently asked to make a cake f or his 80th birthday.

He started baking six years ago because he wanted t o eat f r esh bread every day. ‘I have never thought of myself as a f antastic baker,’ he says.

I just like to bake for my f a mily. I wasn’t expecting to actually go anywhere.’ TAMAL RAY, left, 29, a trainee anaesthetist, has been this series’ heartthrob, earning legions of fans for his good looks, cheeky smile and adventurous bakes.

He has 38,800 followers on Twitter and has r eceived marriage proposals from adoring viewers. But f emale hearts broke across Britain last week when he revealed he’s not looking for a girlfriend— but a boyfriend. ‘I am single at the moment,’ he said.

Tamal, who works in the intensive care ward of Wythenshawe Hospital, Manchester, was born in Bushey, Hertfordshire. His parents moved to the UK from India in the Sixties.

His older sister, Soma, taught him to bake — and even trusted him to make her wedding cake a few years ago.

He often takes cakes and biscuits into work and says Bake Off has been a ‘ great i cebreaker’ with patients.

During filming, his superstitions included eating sushi before each show and wearing lucky socks.