Meet this year's Bake Off baker from Dorset

The Great British Bake Off returns to our screens on Tuesday

Carole, from Dorset, will be one of the 12 bakers in this year's GBBO
Author: Ana Da SilvaPublished 7th Sep 2022

Great British Bake Off's 2022 bakers have been announced and Dorset will be represented again this year.

Born and bred in the West Country, supermarket cashier Carole, lives in a Dorset hillside with her husband, Michael.

She will be among the 12 amateur bakers aiming to be crowned this year's winner of Great British Bake Off, as the show makes a return next week.

Carole, who loves gardening as well as baking, is well known in and around Sherborne for her 'Compost Carole' show on a local radio station.

The 12 bakers competing in this year's Bake Off, which starts on Tuesday

She says she will bring artistry that she uses in her garden to her baking, by creating colourful and eclectic bakes inspired by her passion for horticulture.

Carole tells us she began her baking journey with a first birthday cake for her eldest granddaughter, Maisie. Since then, she has refined her skills. learning to improve her decoration techniques from watching Youtube tutorials.

"My strengths are definitely decorating the cake, especially using fondant.

"Weakness is quite possibly patisserie!"

Speaking about the moment she heard she'd been selected for this year's edition of GBBO - just 10 minutes before starting her shift at work - she said it was difficult to keep it a secret.

"If you had told me I would be in the tent this time last year, I would say you were smoking something!

"When I got the call, which was 10 mins before my shift started, it was so hard not to utter a word to anyone, and I had to carry on as normal!"

And what about the first time she stepped in the famous tent?

Carole described some of the moments from Week 1 - which we'll be able to watch on Tuesday, when the show returns to Channel 4.

"(The tent) was much smaller than I expected, but it had a familiar feeling about it, as I had watched nearly every one of GBBO episodes, so felt quite at home.

"(The first week was all about) meeting everyone, having your photo taken like 200 times! Meeting your fellow bakers and learning all about them, getting used to the location, and enjoying making new friends."

The Great British Bake Off returns to our screens next week for its 13th edition.

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