Great British Bake Off star Luis Troyano has died from oesophageal cancer following a battle with the disease. He was 48.
On Tuesday, his agent, Anne Kibel, confirmed the sad news in a statement on Twitter.
"Sadly, my lovely client lost his brave fight against Oesophageal cancer last week. A fantastic man with a love of baking that saw him get to the finals of GBBO, write a wonderful book, Bake It Great and do so much more. Always in our thoughts," Kibel wrote.
She also shared a link to a fundraiser set up by Troyano's wife, Louise, raising money for the Macmillan Cancer Support, which is one of the largest British charities that provides specialist health care, information and financial support to people affected by cancer.
The fundraiser also included a final statement from Troyano that read: "A special thank you to Macmillan Cancer Support, East Cheshire Hospice and the NHS including Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust, The Christie NHS Foundation Trust and Stockport NHS Foundation Trust for trying to save my life and their tireless work to try and eliminate cancer."
"But more importantly a massive thank you to all the amazing professionals who really did try their absolute best for me, showed me absolute compassion and gave me more time than what was seemingly possible," he added. "I thank you sincerely."
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Troyano was best known for becoming a runner up on Great British Bake Off in 2014, coming in behind Nancy Birtwhistle. The show shared a tribute to Luis on Twitter, paying their respects to his friends and family.
"We are deeply saddened to hear that Luis Troyano has passed away. It was a huge honour and pleasure to have him in the Bake Off tent for series five. Our condolences and thoughts go out to his friends and family," it read.
After his time on the popular show, he went on to publish a cookbook titled Bake it Great. He also made regular appearances on BBC’s Good Food channel, according to the Independent.
He was born in the village of Poynton, in Stockport, England and met his wife while in college when he was 17, according to Digital Spy.
In her fundraiser, Louise paid tribute to her late husband, writing: "Your life was a blessing, your memory a treasure, you are loved beyond words and missed beyond measure."
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