Briony back home after Bake Off semi-final vote

Bristol baker stumbles in patisserie week with probable mix-up of sugar and salt

Kim-Joy, Rahul and Ruby have made it to the final of the Great British Bake Off after Briony was voted off.

She was sent home from the Bake Off tent after “probably” mixing up salt and sugar in an emotional semi-final.

The 33-year-old revealed she broke the news of what went wrong on a WhatsApp group for the show’s bakers.

The one-time star baker was undone by patisserie week and became tearful after her failed showstopper but said she was proud to have made it to week nine.

Kim-Joy, Rahul and Ruby will take part in an evenly matched final, with each of the contestants having two star baker awards to their name.

Briony said: “The bakers were asking on WhatsApp what had happened and I messaged them saying that I was leaving but as one happy semi-finalist.

“I had a little cry after the showstopper but it was more of a release of emotion. I really did leave with a big smile on my face.”

Briony was dependant on a good bake for the showstopper but her efforts were deemed “raw” and “very salty”.

Judges and contestant were agreed she had probably mixed up salt and sugar in her final challenge.

The glazing in her technical challenge, a Seven Veils Cake, was described by Paul Hollywood as “like incontinence pants”, although it was Rahul who came bottom of the group.

Prue Leith said the self-effacing baker had “gone backwards” in patisserie week after being one of the standout contestants in previous challenges.

It was Ruby who was crowned star baker for the second time.

She impressed in all three challenges, while Kim-Joy was praised by the judges for her consistency.

Briony did not do enough to stay on the show in the final challenge and presenter Sandi Toksvig told her: “It doesn’t help if you get your salt and your sugar mixed up.”

The baker from Bristol was still delighted to have made it to the semifinal of the show.

She said: “I don’t often say that I am proud of myself – but I am proud of myself.”

The Bake Off champion will be crowned after the final on Tuesday October 30. Last night’s Bake Off semi-final was less swings n’ roundabouts and more yoyos. The Doyenne and I were on the edge of our seats as Rahul went from first to last in the first two challenges and Ruby went from last to first.

Do madeleines have humps or bulbous bumps, does a seven veils cake really have seven veils? These were bad enough but the showstopper nearly turned out to be just that for Rahul, who had never been to France and whose patisserie experience was limited to the bun shops of Sheffield.

This week’s disasters included rubbery chocolate, dismissed by Paul as having the texture of incontinence pants. Things went badly wrong for Briony when she mistook salt for sugar in the showstopper. Kim Joy had a wobble never having made a chocolate mousse – “I think I’m just ready to go home”, she sighed

“It’s going to be brutal this week”, groaned Briony as they faced the three intense challenges. It turned out to be prophetic as sadly she was the one to leave the tent.

Baker Briony getting to work in the kitchen during the Great British Bake Off.