Though we are shipping Michael and Henry in our hearts, this was the season’s true winner.
Mikelle Street*This post contains spoilers from the final episode of The Great British Bake Off, also known as The Great British Baking Show on Netflix.
Though it was Michael Chakraverty and Henry Bird who got tongues wagging earlier this week, after photos of them canoodling while baking surfaced online, we finally have a winner for the most recent season of The Great British Bake Off. His name: David Atherton.
On Tuesday, Atherton beat out the the two other finalists, Alice Fevronia and Steph Blackwell, to win what has been called the youngest season of the show. As is habit for any BBC show, Atherton didn’t win any cash, but instead received a bouquet and a commemorative cake stand. Well, there was also an announcement that he had moved in with his boyfriend Nik since filming — seems like wins all around.
Atherton, who also works as a health advisor, joins a legacy of gay bakers that have won the show, that started with Edd Kimber. Kimber won the series’ first season.
For his part, Atherton was not necessarily the high scorer going into the finals. Blackwell had won Star Baker more than all of the other competitors, and in fact Atherton hadn’t won the title yet. But it’s not over until the fat lady sings as they say— his win made him the first winner in 10 seasons of the show to not have won Star Baker duriing the competition!
Atherton baked his way quite calmly through the Signature challenge, created the perfect twice-baked stilton souffle with a lavosh biscuit for the Technical challenge, and turned out a pretty awe-inspiring nougatine basket filled with peaches, cheese, and fig rolls that were created from bread, cake, and sausage rolls.
His work was called “exceptional” by the judges.
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