Great British Bake Off 2020: Meet this year’s line-up competing under strict COVID-19 rules

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Channel 4 has unveiled the 12 home-bakers competing in the eleventh season of The Great British Bake Off, due to hit screens on September 22. 

The new batch of hopefuls boasts are as diverse as ever, with the line-up including a pantomime producer, a radiographer, an armoured guard, and an amputee who uses baking as a form of therapy.

This year’s edition will see Matt Lucas make his debut as he replaces Sandi Toksvig to host alongside comedian Noel Fielding and judges Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith.

The upcoming series took place at a private location in Essex after five years of filming at Welford Park in Berkshire, with all cast and crew members undergoing regular COVID-19 testing in an isolation bubble amid the pandemic. 

Producers said they drew up a list of safety rules ‘longer than the Bible’ before filming started in Essex. Executive producer Letty Kavanagh insisted even packets of flour were cleaned several times.

Before entering the ‘biosphere’, the contestants had to quarantine for nine days and then give two negative results from coronavirus tests. They were tested again at the venue. Anything coming in and out of the Bake Off bubble, including luggage and food deliveries, had to be deep-cleaned.  

Marc, 51, from Cornwall, joined the series in a bid to defy the odds after losing his leg in a motorbike accident in 2016. 

The bronze resin sculptor credits baking cakes and pastries for healing the mental strain of his injury, after spending his youth climbing mountains across the globe. 

Supported by his daughters, the single parent – who became a landscape photographer once he settled back in the UK – has managed to take up the sport again, four years after the incident.

‘I was incredibly excited, happy and very very nervous’, the support worker said of his time in the famous Tent. ‘[A special memory was] being surrounded by 11 other great people, all in the competition with me, and I just remember feeling the very positive and exciting energy in the tent.’  

Panto producer Lottie, 31, from West Sussex, has branded herself a ‘perpetually frustrated perfectionist’ who believes she’s inherited her love for baking from her Lancastrian great-grandmother.

While timing and decoration are her downfalls, the yoga enthusiast prides herself in being a fast-learner with refined skills.

Detailing her experience of working in the Tent, Lottie said: ‘Coming straight out of lockdown into another lockdown was weird but totally worth it and that first morning was utterly terrifying! As soon as I saw the tent it all started to feel a bit too real!’  

The show will also see diagnostic radiographer Loriea, 27, from Durham compete for the top prize. Born and raised in Jamaica, the brainbox moved to the UK when she was 15 and started baking 10 years earlier with help from her grandmother.

The macramé-loving contestant uses baking as a way to express her appreciation for her Caribbean background, and often puts a spin on traditional recipes by infusing her creations with chillies, coconut and cinnamon.   

Commenting on how well the competitors have got on, Loriea – who ‘struggles to think simplistically’ when it comes to her cooking – explained: ‘What stands out the most is the close bond we had made already, as well as how supportive we all were to each other, despite coming from various backgrounds. Basically, it was like catching up with long lost friends.’   

Dave, 30, developed a love for the art once he moved out of his family home, after years of depending on his mum’s food.

The armoured guard – who now lives with his girlfriend in their first home in Hampshire – splits his time between work, DIY projects and looking after his pets when he isn’t cooking up a storm in the kitchen. 

Describing the competition as a ‘dream come true’, Dave said: ‘I’m very pleased. It felt like a long build up and that there were many hurdles to overcome first.   

‘My strengths are the ability to learn from mistakes, take criticism and use it to improve, while my weaknesses would be feeling overwhelmed when mess builds up and struggling with some baking jargon…. And French words!’ 

Joining them will be Hermine, 39, an accountant who moved from Benin to the English capital in 2001 to pursue further education, digital manager Laura, 31, from Kent, who focuses on mastering ‘pretty and dainty’ creations, Rowan, 55, a music teacher from Worcestershire with an ‘ostentatious’ baking style, and London-based pharmacy dispenser Sura, 31, who is an expert at balancing fragrant and floral flavours.  

Also in the Tent will be retirement living team leader Linda from East Sussex, who at 61 is this year’s oldest contestant, as well as the youngest in the line-up – accounting and finance student Peter, 20, from Edinburgh.

The line-up is completed by Northern Irish project manager Mark, 32, who began experimenting with baking during his time at university, and Makbul, 51, an accountant from Greater Manchester who first took on cooking as a means to support his mother.  

Last year saw David Atherton, 37, from London beat Steph Blackwell and Alice Fevronia, both 29, to be crowned the 2019 champion – despite never winning Star Baker.

Filming for the upcoming season kicked off in late July in the Essex countryside, just a stone’s throw from celebrity chef Paul’s £1 million Grade II listed farmhouse in Kent. 

The popular show had been scheduled to go into production back in April, before the pandemic, and subsequent lockdown, scuppered all plans.

However, Sky Studios CEO Gary Davey brought all hopes for the show’s return back to life in July, when he revealed that filming is ‘going very well’. 

Despite being considered a high-risk candidate for coronavirus at 80, Prue decided to make a comeback to the much-loved series.  

TV sources previously claimed producers banned older contestants who are considered vulnerable to the virus. An insider told The Sun: ‘There’s a real sense of urgency to get the next series of Bake Off in the can, considering it’s one of Channel 4’s biggest draws.

‘That means the nation’s baking grans and grandads have been deemed too high risk. Bake Off’s wizened contestants are often the heart of the show. Val, who would ‘listen’ to cakes to work out if they were done, and rapping septuagenarian Flo became favourites.’

Kelly Webb-Lamb, deputy director of programmes and head of popular factual for Channel 4, recently admitted it was an ‘enormous’ feat getting the show back on air.

The TV executive credited stringent health and safety measures, testing and quarantine regimes for the return of the baking hit.   

Media personality Paul, 54, wants to continue using his trademark handshake in the upcoming season, despite fears of spreading the virus.   

The food expert’s handshake is widely regarded as the golden ticket for bakers who aim to meet his high expectations or win Star Baker of the week. Kieran Smith, of show maker Love Productions, confirmed his iconic gesture will take place in the series. 

According to The Sun, the culinary star admitted he’s gained weight in lockdown. He said: ‘For the first time I put a bit of weight on this year — I wanted to get out more. Normally I’m out on the bike, I’m out doing stuff out and away, but I put a little bit of weight on.

‘It’s really difficult when you’re there, because you always start off and you’re eating so much stuff. We used to have a little gap in between each one. Now we’re not so it felt like you were constantly eating!’ 

The first time fans witnessed his congratulatory move was in series three of the former BBC show. The program was relaunched on Channel 4 in 2017 and saw him dish out another seven handshakes in just one run.   

Channel 4 has clarified they will follow strict safety protocol so that all parties are free to handshake to their heart’s content. 

The new series of The Great British Bake Off will begin on Channel 4 on September 22 at 8pm.