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Bake Off contestant applied for show 'on a whim'

News imageLove Productions/Channel 4/Love Productions/PA Bake-Off promo studio shot of Danni standing in a pink studio holding up a yellow iced cake on a board with one hand. They have shoulder length dark blonde hair and are wearing a long sleeved blouse with a lace collar and a beige apron.Love Productions/Channel 4/Love Productions/PA
Danni's baking repertoire includes everything from "sausage rolls to croquembouche"

A contestant of the new series of the Great British Bake Off has said they applied to take part "on a whim" after getting "sick" of people urging them to apply.

Twelve new bakers will be introduced when the first episode airs on Channel 4 on Tuesday night, including Danni, an HGV service centre administrator from Dorset.

Other contestants include a paediatric doctor, a competitive sprinter, a hairdresser and a drag artist.

Ahead of the first episode, Danni said: "It's going to be so, so fun - I'm definitely watching it. It's going to be so good."

The Bake Off website describes Danni as "naturally curious and experimental" with a love of foraging.

News imageLove Productions/Channel 4/Love Productions/PA Twelve contestants pose in the pink Bake Off kitchenLove Productions/Channel 4/Love Productions/PA
Twelve new contestants battle it out in the 17th Bake Off series

Explaining how they came to be on the show, they said: "It's actually quite a funny story. I applied for the Bake Off on a whim.

"You know when you bring a baked good to any sort of function and they're like 'you should totally go on Bake Off', no matter how good the actual bake is?

"I got sick of people telling me that so I was like 'fine, I'll apply' and then I'll get rejected and then I'll be like 'well, I tried, oh dear'.

"But that didn't happen."

Danni, who lives with their parents, sister and three dogs, is also a tech enthusiast and loves decorating bakes with inspiration from video games and animation.

Speaking to BBC Radio Solent's Dorset Breakfast show, they said: "I bake anything and everything. I do love baking so much.

"I'll make sausage rolls one week and the next week it'll be some sort of croquembouche."

News imageLove Productions/Channel 4/Love Productions/PA Studio promo image of the Great British Bake Off judges and hosts (left to right) Paul Hollywood, Alison Hammond, Nigella Lawson and Noel Fielding - standing in a line with their arms around each other. Hollywood has short white hair and a white beard and is wearing a blue open-collar shirt, Hammond has long dark hair and is wearing a floral dress, Lawson has shoulder length dark hair and is wearing a black zip-up dress, Fielding has shaggy shoulder-length hair and is wearing a black oversize shirt covered in white skulls.Love Productions/Channel 4/Love Productions/PA
New Bake Off judge Nigella Lawson (second from right) joins Paul Hollywood (left), Alison Hammond and Noel Fielding (right)

When asked about the filming of the series during the hot summer, Danni said: "I won't say how, but the weather certainly did present a challenge.

"But everyone is so nicies all the time and they are so lovely.

"Genuinely, it's such a nice sense of camaraderie in the tent."

The contest, which sees amateur bakers compete to impress celebrity judges with their culinary creations, is now in its 17th series.

Dame Prue Leith, who left the show after nine years, has been replaced by Nigella Lawson.

Previous Dorset contestants have included Maggie from Poole, Carole from Sherborne and Nelly from Christchurch.

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