Inside the Instagrams of this year’s Great British Bake Off contestants

With The Great British Bake Off returning to our screens next week, the most wholesome season of the year is nearly upon us. I simply cannot wait to terribly recreate one of the technical challenges in my uni kitchen and imagine myself shaking Paul Hollywood’s hand (is that just me?).

The bakers were announced a few days ago, but do their Instagrams reveal any more about them? In all honestly, it’s mainly just cake. In fact, there’s a hell of a lot of cake and not a lot of anything else. Their Instas don’t scream “influencer”, so you probably won’t see Marc on his holidays or Hermine with a cocktail in hand, but I’ve sifted through (sifted) to find a few gems so we can get to know the contestants better.

Here are all the Instagrams of the newest batch of Bake Off contestants:

Sura

Instagram: @Surasbakes

Followers: 657

Sura is from London, and her Insta is full of well captioned baking videos and pics of delicious looking cakes. She occasionally puts food she’s had whilst on holidays there too, so if you wanna drool over some LA donuts then head over to her account.

She did a Q&A on her story yesterday, so hopefully she’ll be pretty active as the show unfolds.

Peter

Instagram: @peter_bakes

Followers: 1,059

Peter is an Accounting and Finance student at the University of Edinburgh. His Instagram is jam-packed with cake, and that’s about it, but he’s been tagged in some photos that show he’s a pretty fun bloke. There’s even a picture of him in a pink crop top and sequin shorts, but I wasn’t about to expose him like that.

He’s an avid badminton player, super close wth his family and friends, and clearly a lover of a night out. I’m just jealous he isn’t in my uni house.

Lottie

Instagram: @lottiegotcake

Followers: 683

I’m going to assume Lottie knew *exactly* what she was doing with that scandalous username, and if it sets the tone for her baking banter, I think she’s going to be a good one to watch this series. She captioned one pic: “I love to eat somewhere that isn’t afraid to push the boundaries of what a dessert can be”, and another pic about a cake (surprise!) was captioned: “Even if I do ever have children, this will remain the best looking thing I have ever made”.

Her Insta shows us she has a cute cat and probably plays piano. She also once ate a pot noodle with a toothbrush because there wasn’t any cutlery in her hotel room. What a mood.

Loriea

Instagram: @Loriea_cc

Followers: 302

Loriea is a radiographer from Durham but born in Jamaica. She loves to bake with big flavours, including the chilli and chocolate brownies she recently posted with the caption: “What’s life without a bit of spice? Celebrate being authentic and never hide who you really are”.

She just posted about World Afro Day, saying: “So yesterday was world Afro day, whilst am not rocking a full Fro am celebrating my hair and it’s natural beauty”. Loriea’s Instagram shows her and her husband being cute all the time, and reveals she used to have purple hair and has been to the Maldives. Seems like a right good egg.

Mark

Instagram: @thebakingbuddha

Followers: 1,748

Again, Mark’s Instagram is actually just cakes and bread. But, they’re particularly aesthetically pleasings cakes and breads. They usually with inspiration from across the globe, so I’m not expecting him to just bake your average Victoria sponge on the show. In his GBBO announcement post, he admitted to stealing all the flour in lockdown. Now it all makes sense.

His tagged photos shows his wedding suspiciously resembled the GBBO tent, bunting and all. It also shows he’s been to Junkyard Golf, so he’s probably a fun time.

Dave

Instagram: @dave_friday_bakes

Followers: 605

Dave’s Instagram screams wholesome. When it isn’t a picture of a cake (which isn’t very often), it’s pics of his family, their cat and dog, and surfing holidays to Cornwall.

No that isn’t the Love Island villa you see, it’s Dave in a hot tub with his family:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CFOphgBBFCQ/

Laura

Instagram: @laura.adlington

Followers: 660

Laura’s Instagram is probably the best out of the lot. She posts really pretty photos of her cakes, but also posts selfies, cute pics with her husband, and travelling photos. She screams wholesome but seems like a good giggle, too.

I get the impression she loves Disney and musicals, as well as spending time with family and friends. She’s also got a pizza oven in her garden, which is pretty cool.

Hermine

Instagram: @bakealongwithhermine

Followers: 414

Hermine’s Instagram really is just cake. But they do look absolutely delicious. One caption says: “This is surreal! I am so excited” about joining Bake Off. She’s already followed by Rahul and Kim Joy from 2018’s series, and they’ve liked and commented on a few of her cake photos, including one that looks exactly like a handbag. Impressive.

Marc

Instagram: @marc_o_bakes

Followers: 598

Marc’s bio says he is a “baker, photographer, climber, and amputee from Cornwall”. He has massive cool dad energy and his Insta really reinforces that. He posts about cakes (really?!), and often puts up videos and pics of him wall climbing now and in his younger years. The photo below was taken in New Zealand in 1993.

He recently made a post about how important baking is to his mental health: “Going back to the reason began I baking. Shortly after losing my leg, in a accident I developed quite severe depression and anxiety. I started baking as an activity to help reduce those feelings… The physical process of kneading the dough and the concentration involved would certainly go some way in relieving the anxiety”.

Rowan

Instagram: @rowansbigbakes

Followers: 242

Rowan’s Insta is brand spanking new and already has a bit of following. This photo he just posted of him cutting a tart in his garden literally looks like a still from a Hugh Grant movie, and I’m loving it. Again, it’s mainly just cake, but he’s also posted some pics of his “baking waistcoats” – I honestly think he’s a GBBO fashion icon in the making, watch this space.

via Instagram @rowansbigbakes

Unfortunately Linda and Makbul don’t have Instagram yet, but you can find out more about them here.

Featured image via Instagram @loriea_cc, @lottiegotcake, @laura.adlington

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