The 12 amateur bakers competing in this year’s Great British Bake Off have been revealed.
It has already been announced that the show will return to our screens on August 24, a slightly later start this year due to the Rio Olympics. To muster up further excitement, the BBC have unveiled this year’s contestants. Among the 12 hopefuls are a PE teacher, a nurse and a hairdresser.
Great British Bake Off Contestants 2016
Candice, 31
- Works in pastoral care and PE teaching at a secondary school, lives in Bedfordshire.
- Inspired to bake by her grandmother, aims to be “even half the lady she was”.
Kate, 37
- Nurse on an acute respiratory ward.
- Has had a passion for baking ever since she was a child, and loves using seasonal fruits gathered from her parents’ Norfolk farm.
Benjamina, 23
- Teaching assistant who lives in South London.
- Likely to be her strongest critic.
Michael, 20
- From London, currently studying politics and economics in Durham.
- His Cypriot heritage is evident in his baking, as he loves to make Greek pastries with his grandmother.
Lee, 67
- The Boltonian is the oldest contestant this year.
- Lee started his career as a builder before becoming a pastor in the 1980s.
Louise, 46
- Works as a hairdresser in Cardiff
- Loves to decorate her cakes with elaborate designs
Andrew, 25
- Originally from Northern Ireland, lives in Derby and works as an aerospace engineer for Rolls-Royce, designing jet engines.
- Creations include a ‘baguette Concorde’.
Tom, 26
- Lives in London with his wife Kate and works for now works for The Royal Society of Arts.
- Tom lost 30kg in weight but still believes in enjoying his bakes in moderation.
Val, 66
- Former primary school head teacher from Yeovil, Somerset.
- Might be an unusual baker as she likes to do aerobics in her kitchen while waiting for her jams to boil.
Selasi, 30
- Originally from Ghana, works as a client service associate in the finance industry.
- Despite working long hours, Selasi regularly impresses his colleagues with his baking.
Jane, 61
- Garden designer from Beckingham.
- Her grandfather owned a bakery so Jane hopes to use her long family history of making breads and cakes to become champion.
Rav, 28
- From Kent, Rav has a job supporting students at City University London and volunteers for charities such as Victim Support.
- Loves using unusual ingredients, “even if they might seem strange to others”.
All 12 contestants will need to impress long-standing judges Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood. After Nadiya Hussain took the title last year, the bar has been raised high.
Hollywood told the BBC: “Nadiya went to a whole new level… it put pressure on them more. I think we felt it in the tents as well. They started quite nervously, but once they settled down they got into it.”
Berry concurred, saying: “They know the standard that it is, which is now pretty high. And I think they were slower to bond this year than they were in the past.”
The new series of Great British Bake Off returns to BBC1 on August 24.
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