And sure enough, the amateur baker set aside her nerves to nail the final, producing a showstopper so worthy of its name it was described as “sheer perfection” by the judges.
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“I went into the tent the smallest baker at 4ft 11ins, but I walked out feeling a giant”.
“We are really happy for her and her family”.
Millions of people tuned in to see who would be crowned this year’s victor of the Great British Bake Off, but who is the person behind the apron?
Thirty-year old Nadiya Hussain, a mother of three from Leeds, ended up baking a real showstopper on Wednesday’s final of the “Great British Bake Off”.
Nadiya is backed by Prime Minister David Cameron, who has said he is rooting for her to win.
Tasked with baking a simple British classic, Nadiya decides to make a wedding cake called “My Big Fat British Wedding Cake”, filled to the brim with buttercream and lemon drizzle.
The three finalists were asked to make iced buns for the signature bake and raspberry millefeuille for the technical challenge.
In the end, she won easily as Cumming forgot to add sugar and Ray struggled to finish on time.
Hussain charmed viewers with her witty one-liners and endearing range of facial expressions, which spawned a “Many Faces of Nadiya Appreciation Blog”, becoming the audience favourite to win the programme – a runaway success whose final was expected to draw a record-breaking 14 million viewers.
Well wishes begin to flood in for her from social media as well. I’m never gonna say, ‘I don’t think I can.’ I can and I will.
Paul, 49, added: “Her ideas, flair, her emotions and her passion were all in her bakes”.
It was hard not to feel sorry for Ian when he had the gut wrenching realisation: “Did I leave something out?” I would come back from filming and have a totally melted down when I went home. “In the first episode I looked around at everyone else’s Black Forest Gateaux and felt out of my depth”.
“It was only in high school with my old economics teacher, I made puff pastry with her and she said, “Yeah, you’re actually quite good at this”. The show owes its success, in part, to Mary and Paul. I’m so pleased I came this far.
The judges were unanimous that Nadiya was the deserved victor.
As we head towards the final few months of the year it looks unlikely that any other show will be able to compete with the numbers.
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“All the team at the hospital have been very excited about the show and keep asking me to bring in bakes, but I have been full on with revision for exams since the show started”, he said. “That was the best tasting final we have ever had”.
