The Great British Bake Off was watched by 7.5 million last night on Channel 4. This was an increase on last year’s viewership of 7.3 million. The nation saw fan-favourite Rahul Mandal crowned the winner after a dramatic 12-week series.
Mandal won against Kim-Joy Hewlett and Ruby Bhogal. He had an emotional reaction to the win, saying: “I don’t whether to laugh or to cry. I just feel I need to talk to my mum.” He added: “Only my parents knew about it [him applying to Bake Off], in the newspaper they published the news and the rest of the family found out, they are very happy but shocked and surprised. I think baking is a science, it’s a mixture of physics, chemistry and engineering so perfectly fits what I do.”
Mandal has become the first male winner after six years. The bakers had to bake donuts, cook pita breads outside, and finally make a show-stopping landscape dessert.
Watch one of Mandal’s best moments from the series, below:
