The Great British Bake Off is a British television baking competition, produced by Love Productions. It premiered on BBC Two in 2010, then moved to BBC One in 2014, and then moved to Channel 4 in 2017. This list contains sections about annual winners and runners-up who appeared in the first seven series that aired on BBC. The information seen in tables, including age and occupation, is based on the time of filming.
Series 1 (2010)
No baker was awarded Star Baker this season.
Edd Kimber (winner) Edd Kimber (born 7 March 1985 in Bradford), the winner of the first series in 2010, had previously worked as a debt collector for a bank at the time of original airing. Since then, Kimber has written the following cookbooks: The Boy Who Bakes (2011; ISBN 978-0-85783-045-6), Say It with Cake (2012; ISBN 978-0857830975), Patisserie Made Simple (2014; ISBN 978-0857832436), One Tin Bakes (2020; ISBN 978-0-85783-859-9), One Tin Bakes Easy (2021; ISBN 978-0-85783-978-7), and Small Batch Bakes (2022; ISBN 978-1-914239-28-1). He was "resident baker" on The Alan Titchmarsh Show. He came out while attending university. As of 2022, he was living in Highbury, north London, with his partner Mike.
Ruth Clemens Ruth Clemens, runner-up of the first series, established her blog The Pink Whisk, which Kate Watson-Smyth of The Independent ranked 49th out of fifty "best food websites" of 2011.
Miranda Gore Browne Miranda Gore Browne, eliminated in the finals of the first series, was a buyer of Marks & Spencer at the time of original airing. As of 2017, she is a consultant for the National Trust and ambassador for Aga Rangemaster Group. She also hosts baking classes in West Sussex. She wrote her cookbooks Biscuit (2012; ISBN 9780091945022) and Bake Me a Cake As Fast As You Can (2014; ISBN 9781446489178, 9780091945114). She also appeared in a video A Perfect Afternoon Tea (2014).
Series 2 (2011)
There was no Star Baker on the seventh week as Paul and Mary felt singling out one baker when the results were incredibly close would not be right.
Jo Wheatley (winner) Joanne Wheatley (née Rutland; born 27 May 1969), the winner of the second series, has started her own cookery school and written two cookbooks A Passion For Baking (2013; ISBN 9781780338774) and Home Baking (2014; ISBN 9781472109354). She has appeared in The One Show, performed cooking demonstrations on The Alan Titchmarsh Show and written a column in the Sainsbury's magazine. She writes for The Sun and various food publications. Wheatley is married to Richard, who was sentenced on 20 April 2010 to seven years in prison for a £60-million money laundering scheme. They have three sons together.
Holly Bell Holly Bell, one of runners-up of the second series, worked in an advertising industry at the time of original airing. She wrote her cookbook Recipes from a Normal Mum (2014; ISBN 978-1-84949-419-9)
Mary-Anne Boermans Mary-Anne Boermans (born 1964/65), one of runners-up of the second series, had been a housewife at the time of original airing and previously played women's rugby for Wales. She wrote her cookbook Great British Bakes (2013; ISBN 9781448155019, 978-0-22-409556-3) and runs a blog Time to Cook.
Series 3 (2012)
There was no elimination in the sixth, week after John sustained a major injury to his finger and could not complete the last bake. The judges therefore determined that it would be unfair to eliminate anyone.
John Whaite (winner)
John Whaite (born 1988/89), winner of the third series, was a University of Manchester graduate student studying law at the time of the series. Whaite was raised in Wigan. He also has two older sisters. He attended the University of Oxford twice. After Bake Off, Whaite graduated with a law degree. He then attended the London branch of Le Cordon Bleu. In January 2016, Whaite established his eponymous cookery school, John Whaite's Kitchen Cookery School, a converted 400-year-old barn on his family's farm in Wrightington, Lancashire. He appeared in ITV's Lorraine, This Morning, What's Cooking?, The Alan Titchmarsh Show and Sunday Brunch. He also co-presented ITV's cooking competition series Chopping Block with Rosemary Shrager in 2016–17. He also regularly appeared as a guest of presenter Steph McGovern's Channel 4 talk show Steph's Packed Lunch. Whaite announced his engagement with his partner Paul Atkins, a graphic designer, in July 2017. In 2021, Whaite was a contestant on the nineteenth series of Strictly Come Dancing, appearing as part of the first ever male same-sex pairing with professional Johannes Radebe. Whaite and Radebe in December 2021 became one of two finalist pairs but then lost the contest to another pair, actress Rose Ayling-Ellis and dancer Giovanni Pernice, via public vote. Whaite wrote the following cookbooks: John Whaite Bakes (2013), John Whaite Bakes at Home (2014), Perfect Plates in 5 Ingredients (2016), Comfort: Food to Soothe the Soul (2018), and A Flash in the Pan (2019).
Brendan Lynch Brendan Lynch (born 1948/49), runner-up of the third series, was a semi-retired company director at the time of the series. Two years after Bake Off, in 2014, Lynch was treated in four months for his chronic ulcerative colitis, to which he attributed stress during the Bake Off filming and consumption of his own bakes. Since then, he consumed nutritional supplements and reduced use of sugar, lactose and gluten in order to control the condition. Also, after Bake Off, Lynch taught cookery courses around the UK and baking skills to dementia-diagnosed people with classic recipes that they could remember from years ago, exhibited cooking/baking events at food festivals and cruises, and wrote recipes for British national newspapers. In early 2014, he was a judge at a local junior school's charity baking contest.
James Morton
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