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you might see the heart and soul that goes into his baking, Paul Hollywood explained in the finale.
Hes done an incredible job.
DellAnnos recipe for success?
More heritage and less flash, except when it comes to his button-down shirts.
Hes also the first ItalianBake Offvictor.
This apologetic writers hair was a bit wet and disheveled from the shower because of a time-zone mixup.
Oh, he said with a laugh, have you looked at mine?
Hows the engineering life treating you these days?Youre not the only one who thought that.
A lot of people assumed I moved to take on a baking career change.
This year has been particularly challenging for me to fit everything together.
It was a few days between finishing theBake Offfilming and jetting off to Milan to start a new job.
Given the complexities of things, I couldnt move my family, so theyre all still in Bristol.
I commute a lot, usually weekly.
Im not Greta Thunbergs biggest friend at the moment because Im burning a lot of jet fuel these days.
Have you been recognized in Italy a lot?Not at all.
In the U.K., its difficult to do anything these days.
I get stopped a lot in the streets.
With my facial features, Im very easy to spot.
But in Italy, nobody knows me.
The show isnt very well-known there.
Theres an Italian version ofBake Off,but it isnt as popular.
It was funny, being at the Milan airport and chatting with two people from Texas.
Can you tell me what encouraged you to apply forBake Offand appear in the public eye?
My social life isnt particularly wild.
Id rather lock myself up in a room when Im tired and recharge that way.
I had no idea that the show was so big outside of the U.K. before actually appearing on it.
There were a few times when I thought,Oh God, why did I put myself here?
What if people dont like me?
At the end of the day, Ive just been myself onscreen.
With weird facial features.
It taught me that Id been worried for a long time about things that I shouldnt be worried about.
To be able to become part of that was a big validation exercise.
You just cant fake it.
Your mind is entirely focused on the task at hand so you come across as exactly who you are.
Theres no way of faking that.
What comes across the screen is exactly who those people are off-camera.
Its a way of saying its okay to look like that and be you.
For somebody who has a lot of complexes like that, its very powerful.
You compared walking into the tent for the first time to visiting the Sistine Chapel.
It has to be the joconde imprime from Dessert Week.
Where would I even start?
If I managed to pull that off, I could do anything.
Paul said in the finale that you looked like our winner after the very first signature challenge.
Many things that happened when I was there I only found out while I was watching the show.
Having Paul and Prue try something that youve baked is surreal.
I remember about halfway through the show this is something that didnt make it to the final cut.
And I was like, Really?
I never realized that was the case.
Nobody tells you that because theyre not entitled to tell you anything.
Another thing that struck me is that the television business is alien to me.
From the outside, theres a cynical assumption that its a very cutthroat business and people are aggressive.
Matt and Noel are also two true gentlemen.
They would eat lunch with us every day and be so supportive and concerned about our well-being.
I wasnt expecting the experience to be so wholesome.
Its soaked with warmth when its filmed and it transpires on the screen.
The stars of the show are the bakes, not the bakers.
Youre celebrating a cake and the baker is the incidental necessity to get to get a cake.
Its about how good they look and how good they taste.
Thats what makes it less personality-driven.
When youre given that power, it must feel so empowering.
When he shook Crystelles hand, she literally almost fell on the floor.
How can your head not just blow up out of proportion when youve got that power?
Kudos to Paul for keeping it real.
Despite the power its given.
The handshake is part of the fabric of the show.
There have been debates if Prue should have her own equivalent or if its a gender issue.
I dont think it was ever deliberate to be this way.
Paul has managed to time it to perfection.
Every time he gives out a handshake, he never does it straightaway.
It comes across very strongly.
The first time that he shook my hand, I almost broke into tears.
It was difficult to keep it under control.
What do you think would be a good Prue equivalent?A Prue hand pat.
Well have to trademark that.
Shes the sweetest and wisest woman you could possibly imagine.
That said, I was convinced 100 percent that Jurgen was going to win from day one.
Mostly because I tasted his bakes.
They were flippin delicious.
The first showstopper Jurgen made was unbelievable.
It was a chiffon cake with a hint of rosewater and pistachio praline.
The best cake I ever tasted.
But the only competition I had in that tent was myself.
If Im honest, Im not into elaborately decorated cakes.
If you look at my bakes, theyre not extravagant or whimsical.
Its mostly because Ive never practiced that sort of thing.
Im still a home baker; Im not a professional.
As long as a cake is edible, thats good enough for me.
So, thats my long way of saying, no more Italian landmarks.
I like that Prue defined your bakes as classic and beautiful.Im a very traditional baker.
I have my Italian repertoire, which is basic stuff that Ive always loved and made.
But Ive also been playing around with quintessentially British things as well.
Theres a lot of American influence in British baking.
Im an expat baker.
My heritage has been enriched by everything Ive found in life.
Listen, Ive spent an entire lifetime trying to manage my hair.
Ive always cut it very short.
