The Great British Bake Off's Sandro admits baking 'became therapy' after family loss

Virgin Radio

30 Nov 2022, 13:49

The Great British Bake-Off 2022 runner-up Sandro Farmhouse has opened up about turning to baking following the death of his father. 

The talented baker narrowly missed out on the top prize on this year’s GBBO, after fellow contestant Syabira Yusoff was crowned the overall Star Baker of 2022.

Before the series began, Sandro had shared that his dad had sadly passed away when he was 21, and while on Lorraine on Wednesday (30th November), he explained how he turned to baking to help deal with the loss. 

Sandro shared: “I used to always bake with my mum when I was younger. I was that kid who always wanted to lick the spoon, of course, and I guess the passion grew from there.

“She used to make simple sort of cakes and then I got into cake decorating when my dad passed away.”

Lorraine then asked if baking and “concentrating on something beautiful” helped as a “form of therapy.”

“Yes, it was therapy, and I did it naturally,” Sandro added. “It was the first thing I did when I heard he had passed.

“It became therapy for me and ever since then. It is never going to stop.”

Sando quickly became a fan favourite on GBBO, and won over viewers with his humour, determination and baking talent. He proved to be a hit with the judges too, with Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith naming him star baker in week five, but he recently revealed that his journey to the tent wasn’t smooth sailing.

Taking to Instagram in October, he wrote: “Before actually applying to get in the tent, I had chickened myself out so many times. I then finally grew the courage and I applied, got pretty far into the application process and didn’t get in, I won’t lie this hit me hard. I was so close to getting in the tent but unfortunately it wasn’t my time, but I didn’t give up.”

The baker said that his story is “a small reminder to not give up and keep going, it sounds corny but dreams do come true, you just have to put the work in.”

Catch up with The Great British Bake Off 2022 on All4 now.