By Rachael Grealish

In week three of The Great British Bake Off Cumbria’s own contestant Abbi had to say goodbye to the iconic tent – but she’s left after a ‘surreal’ experince.

Bakers entered the arena with ‘the Breadmaster’ Paul Hollywood, as it was time to bake bread in week three, which kicked off with a classic cottage loaf in the signature, and then the bakers headed to Devon for the technical. Finally, the bakers got themselves in a twist with a plaited bread centrepiece.

At the end of the third episode, Alison announced that Tasha was the Star Baker and Noel had the difficult job of telling Abbi that she would be the third baker leaving the tent.

However, Abbi revealed in a Q&A getting on to the show was always a ‘far-off dream’, but when it was real life it was ‘surreal’.

Did you ever dream that you would actually get into the Bake Off tent, and what was your reaction when you got the call confirming your place?

I have always watched Bake Off with the thought in the back of my head of “what if I was there,” but it has always been a very far-off dream! When I was going through the application process I kept forcing my expectations down saying to myself that I wouldn’t get on, that getting to this stage of the auditions was enough, etc, but I tried to stay hopeful. I definitely emitted a high-pitched noise when I found out, I hope I didn’t scare the neighbours!

Are there any particular series of Bake Off that stand out to you and which past bakers have inspired you, how and why? 

I remember feeling really impressed by the way the production managed to keep going through Covid and lockdown, and I think season 12 was definitely one of my favourites. I loved Lizzie and her amazing personality! I also really liked Kim-Joy and her baking style, she’s one of my biggest baking inspirations—she’s so good at making cute things!

In the very first week of filming what special memories do you have of that time?

I think being inside the tent for the first time—seeing the benches and mixers and ovens!—is something I will always remember. I loved getting to know the other bakers and finding out stuff we had in common outside of baking. It was all so exciting and a little overwhelming but in a really good way, and I remember feeling so looked after by the crew!  

If you had to make a cake of yourself in your happiest moment in life  – what would it be and why?

I think it would have to be me in the tent for the first time! I couldn’t believe I was really there and that it was really happening. I still can’t. Also, I love making tiny things out of fondant so either making myself inside the tent out of cake or a more general cake of the tent and the rest of the lovely gardens around it… I would have a lot of fun!

As a baker what would you say are your strengths….and what are your weaknesses?

I think I am quite detail-focused and that is both a strength and a weakness! It allows me to make my bakes look more visually appealing and interesting but at the cost of taking lots of time. I am very creative and love making actual real life places and scenes out of cake, but I would struggle with making something very neat and chic!

If you had plenty of time at home, what’s the craziest kind of Showstopper you can think of to make?

I would love to make a massive gingerbread Christmas village with several houses, people, gardens, etc… I love making little hidden things or characters in the decoration of my cakes for people to spot, so that would be a great opportunity to do something like that. Anything that takes several days and involves lots of tiny fondant modelling!

If you were pastry would you be shortcrust, rough puff or a flaky filo?  And why

I think I would be shortcrust pastry, as I am quite a simple, easy-going person, who isn’t too fussy and is fairly reliable.

Is there any kind of cake or biscuit that you really don’t like and what is your all-time favourite?

I’m not a huge coffee lover so not the biggest fan of coffee cake. My all-time favourite cake is a toss-up between red velvet and lemon drizzle. 

What was it like meeting Alison and Noel for the first time, any funny moments?

It was so cool! They are both so lovely and you could instantly tell that they were going to make you laugh.

Can you describe seeing the big white tent for the first time and walking in towards your workstation?

It was completely surreal. It’s exactly like it is on TV! 

Give us one fact about being in the tent that you didn’t realise after having watched the series previously?

I was super impressed and amazed by how many crew can fit into the tent and yet are never in shot once the series is edited together—the central aisle between the benches was basically full of crew the whole time.

It was really nice because at any moment you could look up and ask for another spatula and someone would produce one from their back pocket in under 20 seconds. I could do it with a system like that at home.