A fresh batch of bakers ready to enter the Great British Bake Off tent has been unveiled ahead of the new series.
The Channel 4 show, which returns on 2 September, will see 12 amateur bakers whisk, mix and soufflé their way to success under the watchful eye of judges Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith. Hosts Alison Hammond and Noel Fielding will return to host.
Among this year’s contestants are 51-year-old bridal designer Pui Man from Essex, 23-year-old medical student Jasmine from Edinburgh, and 32-year-old office assistant Nataliia from Ukraine.
Let’s meet this year’s bakers hoping to secure those Hollywood handshakes:
Tom, 31
Tom, a creative entrepreneur from London, learnt to bake scones and flapjacks alongside his Mum and Danish Granny. As a teen, Tom feared his secret love of baking would out him to his peers, but now as a member of two queer sports teams and with a boyfriend of three years – he doesn’t want to hide anything anymore.
Having stepped back from the advertising agency he set up, he’s recently reconnected with his first love, food, and brings a creative flair to his artistically presented bakes.
Speaking to Channel 4 about his baking skills, he admitted his biggest weakness is timing, but he thrives in creativity. “I think my strength is that I have less traditional baking experience so I come up with some ideas that seem pretty random but when done well (which is clearly not all the time), people seem to really like the concepts and flavours.”
Toby, 29
Business development executive Toby, from Warwickshire, takes a stripped-back, healthier approach to baking, preferring classic recipes and flavours.
Speaking about filming the season, he said seeing the iconic tent for the first time “was so daunting, it felt like some sort of strange fever dream”.
He added: “I definitely didn’t feel like I was in my element, but I was so desperate to get stuck in and start baking. I can remember looking around the tent, trying to read the other bakers to see if they could have been feeling as nervous as me. I think my most prominent feeling was what I can only describe as nervous excitement.”
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Pui Man, 51
Whether it’s baking cakes to designing wedding dresses, Bridal designer Pui Man brings attention to detail with everything she does. Born in Hong Kong and now living in Essex with her husband and two children, Pui Man rediscovered baking during lockdown and has applied for Bake Off four times before getting the call-up from the show’s producers.
Speaking about joining the show, Pui Man said she is “good at everything I have known and practised,” but as a perfectionist, she gets frustrated when things are not immaculate.
She added: “I dreamed about myself in the tent all the time and I dreamed about meeting some ex-bakers all the time. I was at home when I got the phone call from one of the team, and I was shocked because I had applied four times and no success in the past.”
Nataliia, 32
Born in Ukraine, office assistant Nataliia was taught to bake by her grandmother, following traditional recipes that have been passed down through the generations. She moved to the UK with her husband, Harry, four years ago, while her family followed shortly after as refugees when the war broke out in Ukraine. In the kitchen, Nataliia loves to infuse classic British bakes with flavours inspired by her roots such as honey, poppy seeds and spices like nutmeg and cinnamon.
It was Nataliia’s husband, Harry, who secretly signed her up to Bake Off without telling her.
Natallia said: “When he told me that the Bake Off team wanted to speak to me, I was – to put it mildly – shocked. We were at home, and it was the most unexpected phone call.
Speaking about walking into the tent for the first time, she said it was “unbelievable” and “like walking into a film you’ve watched hundreds of times”. She added: “It was so interesting to see how everything is set up and to experience the same emotions that all the incredible bakers before me must have felt.”
Nadia, 41
Nadia, a hairdresser and former personal trainer from Liverpool, blends Italian and Indian flavours to add creative twists on classics. At her home in Liverpool, where she lives with her partner Daniel and two daughters, Sundays are sacred “feast days,” filled with homemade pasta, roasts, and always a pudding.
Reflecting on the moment she discovered she would be on the 2025 series, she said: “Never in a million years did I think I would get on the Great British Bake Off!! So when I found out that I had actually got on the show, I was actually working in my salon, and then I had to act normal for the rest of the appointment – I had to hold my scream in!”
Lesley, 59
Lesley, who has been a hairdresser for 45 years, always sends her clients away with a fresh haircut and a slice of cake. She has been baking since the age of 10, inspired by her grandmother and auntie, with a focus on comfort, creativity and making people smile.
Reflecting on special moments from the series, she remembered hosts Alison Hammond and Noel Fielding arriving in the tent to tell the contestants what they would be baking for the first time. “I had a big cheesy smile on my face,” said Lesley. “I was still in disbelief that I was there, it felt like I was in a dream, and I would wake up at any moment.”
Leighton, 59
Hailing from Swansea, software manager Leighton believes that “anything can be done with a formula” – both in baking and computing. Leighton grew up playing the organ at his local church and now lives in Surrey with his Californian husband Eric and their Irish Terrier, Cilla.
He likes to play with traditional Welsh/British and American flavours, with favourites like Welsh cakes with peanut butter and Victoria Sponge with key lime pie filling.
Leighton said he was “grinning like the Cheshire cat for days” after finding out he had been cast on Bake Off. “To be inside that tent, baking where so many others had baked before… it was a moment I’ll never forget. My family in Wales and the USA are so very proud of me because we’re all obsessed with the Bake Off,” he added.
Jessika, 32
Jessika, a service designer and roller-skating drag king from London, has said that gifting bakes is her love language. She will spend months gathering information about her friends’ tastes before surprising them with the perfect birthday cake. Her signature bakes fuse daring flavours like salted mango caramel and cardamom, or Jerusalem artichoke caramel with a dark chocolate mousse.
She said she reacted to the Channel 4 producers’ calling her with “a little scream, then a bigger scream, and then a goofy dance”. “I was alone at my friend’s house when I got the call, so it was just me on my own, flapping about!”
Jasmine, 23
Edinburgh-born medical student Jasmine is the youngest contestant on this year’s Bake Off. Jasmine learnt the basics of bread and cakes through her Mum and aunts, and has fond memories of batch baking for big family get-togethers during holidays in the Scottish Highlands.
Jasmine said she applied to Bake Off on a “complete whim” and “couldn’t stop laughing” when she found out the good news. “It felt so bonkers and surreal and almost ridiculous that it was actually happening. I was on a train in London, I had to talk in complete code because there was a granny sitting opposite me who I am almost 100 per cent sure was a Bake Off watcher.”
Iain, 29
Software engineer Iain, who lives in Belfast, mixes his love of live music with sourdough, immortalising album cover art on the crusts of his loaves. He’s passionate about blending class flavours with a creative twist, often using fermented fruits and vegetables. If an ingredient can be pickled, aged, or cultured, he’s eager to give it a try.
When he got the call from Bake Off, Iain said he thought it was a prank. “I got a call a few minutes after being told, and I thought they were going to tell me they made a mistake and I wasn’t actually on the show! I was in the office at work and had to go out to the foyer to take the call and speak in code. Everyone who was walking past, heading to the toilet, looked very concerned and confused.”
Hassan, 30
As a scientist, Hassan takes an analytical approach to baking, by researching processes thoroughly before getting started on a new recipe. With a love for sweet treats inspired by his Pakistani heritage, he’s especially fond of praline and nut-based flavours that echo traditional Asian sweets.
Hassan said his strengths are his flavour selection and overall creativity, but his biggest weakness is decorative work. “I usually tend to go for a minimalist approach when decorating so anything intricately decorative that requires a lot of finesse is way out of my comfort zone.”
Aaron, 38
Systems architect Aaron is passionate about fusing French patisserie with Caribbean influences. and is also embracing Asian flavours like miso and yuzu in his bakes. Known to his friends as the “king of hobbies”, Aaron channels his creative side into baking, sewing and making his own liqueurs such as amaretto and limoncello.
Aaron thinks his knowledge of baking and flavours is spot on, but his biggest weakness is “second guessing, especially when I don’t have the time to do it over”.
Great British Bake Off returns to Channel 4 on 2 September.
