Once again 12 amateur bakers will be competing to be Bake Off champion – and among them this year is a York university student.
Britain’s ultimate comfort show The Great British Bake Off is back for 2023, with judges Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith alongside presenters Noel Fielding and Alison Hammond, who has replaced previous presenter Matt Lucas.
And University of York student Rowan Claughton, from West Yorkshire, will be starring as one of the bakers.
At 21, he’s the youngest contestant on the baking show this year.
Some of his earliest baking memories are of scones, pork pies, shortbread and traditional jam tarts – which Rowan says are a Northern delicacy.
He loves to host and bake for his uni friends, impressing them with his grand and opulent bakes. He has a creative eye and a feature of his finished bakes is interesting decoration.
Rowan told The Independent that he was “only eight when the first episode of Bake Off aired. After watching each series without fail, I knew that one of my life goals would be to bake in that tent.
“Getting the call to say I had achieved that dream, I did the only thing appropriate: I slid to the floor, screamed down the phone and ran to the shops for a bottle of prosecco, all before getting back to join the group wash-up in my uni house.”
The English Literature student has also written several articles for the student-led news website The Tab, which include ‘Here are the best places in York to cry this Valentine’s Day’ and ‘Everything you only know if you lived in Derwent College’ – where Rowan said he’s “Derwent till I die” and shared memories of Long Boi, the viral duck that sadly passed away this year, and studying on the grass outside Heslington Hall.
Some of Rowan’s rivals in the Bake Off tent this year include an intelligence analyst, PE teacher, accountant, and veg grower.
His motto is ‘go big, or go home’ – and we’re hoping it’s not the latter. Good luck Rowan!
The Great British Bake Off begins again on Channel 4 on Tuesday, 26 September 2023.