Great British Bake-Off winners: where are they now?
by Simon Ward | 15 October 2012 | 
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We take a look at what happened to the first two champions of the hugely popular BBC TV series.
The third series of The Great British Bake Off (GBBO) is nearly at an end. For the winner, it can be a life-changing experience, as demonstrated by what's happened to the victors from the first two series.
Edd Kimber
The winner of the inaugural GBBO, Edd Kimber, aka the Boy Who Bakes, was a debt collector for Yorkshire Bank and nearly didn’t enter the contest at all. “I thought I didn't want to be on TV, but eventually a few people convinced me that I had nothing to lose,” he told lovefood last year.
Following his victory, he worked in the pastry kitchen at Raymond Blanc’s restaurant Le Manoir.
He’s regularly cropped up on TV shows including the Alan Titchmarsh Show and Market Kitchen Big Adventure. He’s also continued to run macaron classes in London.
He also published his first cookbook, unsurprisingly entitled The Boy Who Bakes, last year and has now followed it up with Say It With Cake. He also continues to blog at theboywhobakes.co.uk.
Edd Kimber recipes on lovefood
Jo Wheatley
Following her win in the 2011 series, housewife Jo Wheatley launched a home cooking school from her Essex home, which includes classes in cupcake decorating, breadmaking and family cakes. She also taught food critic Jay Rayner how to make scones for TV's The One Show.
She has written a recipe book, A Passion For Cooking, which is available exclusively from Sainsbury’s.
And she regularly blogs at Jo’s Blue Aga and appears at events such as the BBC Good Food Show.
Who do you want to win this year's series? What makes the programme so appealing? Share your thoughts in the Comments section below.
More great baking
lovefood's ultimate cake and bake round-up
Comments
by Kintbury Cook | on 15 October 2012
So, who do I want to win this year's GBBO? I think Brendan deserves to win - he brings a lot of baking experience to the competition, and consistently produces good bakes, even though Paul seems to think he's a bit dated in some of his creations (I personally don't mind). Also, I think he has been overlooked some weeks for the star baker accolade, perhaps simply just to give others a bite of that cherry. Having said all this, I like the flair and creativity James brings (too much whisky though), and would also love to see John win if it helps him make some progress towards achieving his ambition of training to be a pastry chef. Good luck to them all - I look forward to watching!
by bev48 | on 15 October 2012
Im so looking forward to tomorrows final, but will be sad when its over. I have a funny feeling Brendan may win, although I think James may just pip him to the post. My daughter always records it then we watch it together on wednesday afternoon, but Im going to have to watch it tomorrow night as I will hate to see who wins in the paper before I get to see the programme.
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