Meet the stars of Great British Bake Off 2023: Channel 4 show welcomes its first ever deaf contestant as the hosts learn sign language ahead of the new series – as the full line-up is revealed
The hugely popular Great British Bake Off is set to return with a 14th series on Tuesday 26 September.
Launching at 8:00pm on Channel 4, it will see 12 amateur but passionate bakers battling it out in a desperate bid to win Paul Hollywood’s praise and become winner.
And its collection of contestants are likely to keep viewers entertained over the coming weeks, with each coming from wildly contrasting professional and social backgrounds.
The Great British Bake Off presenters have learnt sign language as the show welcomes its first ever deaf contestant, while one man takes inspiration for his bakes from the converted church he lives in, and another baked his own three-tier, 12-layer 21st birthday cake.
They also come with a range of different vocational skills, including an intelligence analyst, a chartered accountant, retired airline cabin crew and a student.
First: The Great British Bake Off presenters have learnt sign language as the show welcomes its first ever deaf contestant, Tasha (pictured)
Show stars: Deli and grocery manager Amos (left) will be joining the show this year while English literature student Rowan (right) will also be making an appearance
Competition: Launching at 8:00pm on Channel 4 on Tuesday 26 September, Great British Bake Off will see 12 amateur but passionate bakers battling it out in a desperate bid to win
Tasha, 27, Bristol
The Great British Bake Off presenters have learnt sign language as the show welcomes its first ever deaf contestant.
Tasha, 27, is a participation officer from Bristol and will be joining the show with her BSL interpreter, Daryl.
She said: ‘When I had the Zoom call to tell me I was one of the 12, I cried. Daryl also cried. We were a mess.’
To prepare for Tasha’s time on the show, Dame Prue Leigh, Paul Hollywood, Noel Fielding and his new co-host Alison Hammond have all learned basic sign language.
Dame Prue, 83, revealed she struggled to get to grips with it and admitted: ‘I’m not very good at sign language, but Paul is.’
Channel 4 producers were determined Tasha was not made to feel isolated by the way the show was run and the judges were schooled in sign language to pass on their critiques.
Tasha continued: ‘When we lined up outside the tent to do our first walk-in show, we were all so nervous. It was a big moment when Noel introduced not only Alison but also Daryl as part of the line-up. Seeing Daryl up at the front and feeling full part of the show was a really special moment. I couldn’t have done it without him.’
Contender: Deli and grocery manager, and film and theatre enthusiast Amos is a theme-park lover from North London
Amos, 43, North London
Deli and grocery manager, and film and theatre enthusiast Amos is a theme-park lover from North London.
He grew up in Nottingham with his mother and sister and as a child was always amazed by his mum’s ability to whip up delicious bakes at a moment’s notice – making her both the inspiration and the role model for his own commitment to some serious baking.
Amos describes his bakes as a labour of love – his style is colourful and chic with keen attention to detail, and he loves exploring different flavour profiles.
He compares his baking style to the converted church that he now lives in, calling both his style and home ‘traditional with a modern twist’.
Big bakes: ‘Go big, or go home’ is student Rowan’s motto, and one that he has always applied to his bakes
Rowan, 21, West Yorkshire
‘Go big, or go home’ is student Rowan’s motto, and one that he has always applied to his bakes.
His earliest baking memories are of scones, pork pies, shortbread and traditional jam tarts, which he claims as a Northern delicacy.
A student of English literature, when he’s not writing up a storm, Rowan is also a keen host, applying his creative eye to his cooking – he aims for clean lines and interesting decoration in his finished bakes.
Just like his much-admired cocktail-making skills, Rowan expresses his grand, opulent side in his bakes, wowing his university friends with his creations.
He made his own 21st birthday cake – a three-tier, 12-layer extravaganza.
Family affair: Yorkshire-born Abbi is a vegetable grower and delivery driver, and first learned to bake alongside her mother
Abbi, 27, Cumbria
Yorkshire-born Abbi is a vegetable grower and delivery driver, and first learned to bake alongside her mother, honing those early skills during her teens, when she became enthralled by the Victorian era and especially the traditional bakes of the time – steamed puddings, fruit cakes and more.
Now she takes her inspiration from her environment and the beautiful English countryside around her home.
A lover of the great outdoors, she forages for seasonal ingredients – the bigger and bolder, the better – and puts her homegrown veg to good use.
Abbi’s bakes aim to combine comfort and familiarity with a strong nod towards nature, and a feeling of creating something magical – bakes with a touch of fairytale.
Keen: For Cristy, life with four children means that there always seems to be a birthday to bake for and an exciting party to plan
Cristy, 33, East London
For Cristy, life with four children means that there always seems to be a birthday to bake for and an exciting party to plan.
She describes her baking style as enchanted and pretty – bakes that conjure up a sense of childhood.
Cakes are her speciality, and she draws flavour inspiration from her own Israeli heritage and from her husband’s Jamaican roots.
She is a dab hand with decoration and gets a thrill out of making sure the results look perfect.
When she’s not organising a celebration, you can find her having an outdoor adventure, letting her hair down with her friends, or solving a Rubik’s cube – in under four minutes!
International: Civil engineering resource planner Dan’s interest in cooking began when he went travelling in South America in 2007
Dan, 42, Cheshire
Civil engineering resource planner Dan’s interest in cooking began when he went travelling in South America in 2007.
His particular loves are pies and puddings: before he and his wife bought their first home, they lived with his in-laws, during which time his mother-in-law taught him how to make perfect shortcrust pastry.
Subsequently, his passion for pies has evolved into a penchant for patisserie
Perfectionist Dan loves a baking challenge and will often find the hardest bake in one of his 300 cook books, throwing everything he’s got at creating a masterpiece.
When he’s not baking, he loves to play football with his two young sons, work out in the gym, or forage for edible treats in the countryside around his home.
Experienced: Database administrator Dana’s passion for baking started at the age of 16 when she identified a gap in her family’s traditionally Indian culinary repertoire
Dana, 25, Essex
Database administrator Dana’s passion for baking started at the age of 16 when she identified a gap in her family’s traditionally Indian culinary repertoire.
As a self-professed untidy baker, Dana would avoid stepping on her mum’s toes in the kitchen by catching the bus to her dad’s house to indulge her need to experiment with her bakes.
Now she has a kitchen of her own, Dana has become the family’s go-to celebration cake-maker.
Her style is rustic and homely, but always pleasing to the eye.
She loves a semi-naked cake with neat lines, pretty piping and minimalist decoration; and although she likes to keep her flavours safe, Dana will often incorporate a twist or two, adding in familiar spices associated with her Indian heritage.
Clever chap: Post-doctoral research associate Josh is a chemist by trade and brings his scientist’s precision and keenness to experiment into the kitchen
Josh, 27, Leicestershire
Post-doctoral research associate Josh is a chemist by trade and brings his scientist’s precision and keenness to experiment into the kitchen, taking careful notes on each part of the baking process and perfecting all his techniques for gorgeous results.
He likes to take his inspiration from old baking books, reinventing classics to give them a modern twist, often by introducing alternative flavours and including the seasonal fruit and vegetables from his kitchen garden.
Josh has been playing rugby for his local team for more than 15 years, and once a month he bakes lots of treats to reward his teammates after a rigorous training session.
He dreams of having his own artisan bakery one day.
Sweet treats: Chartered accountant Keith as a penchant for apple pies and fairy cakes – which he learned to bake with his mum
Keith, 60, Hampshire
Chartered accountant Keith as a penchant for apple pies and fairy cakes – which he learned to bake with his mum.
The treats form the baking backdrop to Keith’s childhood, along with his mum’s love for traditional dishes from her home in Malta.
Since those formative years, Keith has never stopped baking. Recently, though, he has returned to the baking books of the early 1970s to attempt recipes that were once ‘beyond’ him.
He loves the challenge of taking on more complex bakes and has grown in confidence with bread.
His partner, Sue, has got very used to waking up to the smell of a freshly baked loaf.
They live with their poodle, Maisie, just a few steps from the sea.
Study: PE and science teacher Matty is the type of baker who swats up on online patisserie videos before bed
Matty, 28, Cambridgeshire
PE and science teacher Matty is the type of baker who swats up on online patisserie videos before bed.
No matter how good he gets, though, he strives to equal the impressiveness of the bake that first caught his imagination: a teddy-bear cake that his late nan made him for his fourth birthday.
Now the family’s designated baker, he always has a list of cake requests for upcoming celebrations.
He describes his style as rustic but neat, and his flavour preferences as quite traditional – he particularly loves chocolate, citrus and nuts.
Once his days in the tent are over, his next – and even bigger – challenge will be to make his own wedding cake, a special commission from his fiancée, Lara.
Familiar: Retired cabin crew and volunteer Nicky describes her baking as ‘like a pair of comfy old slippers; little traditional bakes that evoke fond memories’
Nicky, 52, West Midlands
Retired cabin crew and volunteer Nicky describes her baking as ‘like a pair of comfy old slippers; little traditional bakes that evoke fond memories’.
For Nicky herself, those memories are of her gran’s kitchen table where, as a little girl, she would roll out pastries and decorate cakes – which she says was as much fun then as all her baking is to her now.
Her favourite bakes are still pastries, but she also loves making breads, and fun birthday cakes for her niece and grandchildren.
When she’s not baking, Nicky volunteers for a pet-therapy charity along with her dog Bracken and loves to ski, which she has been doing since she was only three years old.
Tongue tingling: Intelligence analyst, Sri Lankan-born Saku places the traditional flavours of her heritage at the heart of her baking
Saku, 50, Herefordshire
Intelligence analyst, Sri Lankan-born Saku places the traditional flavours of her heritage at the heart of her baking – particularly the curry spices, which she claims make for the best pie fillings, while liberal sprinklings of cinnamon, cardamom and nutmeg find their way into her sweeter bakes.
At her family home in Sri Lanka, Saku didn’t have an oven until she was 18, so she turned to baking only when she moved with her husband to the UK, in 2003, and particularly when she became a mum – rustling up treats for her children’s lunchboxes by replicating the snacks she saw in the supermarket.
Self-taught, she is now a dab hand with a whisk and relishes using her homegrown ingredients from her pride and joy – her vegetable patch.
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