The ninth baker leaves the tentOFFICIAL PRESS RELEASENEWS PROVIDED BY Channel 4 The nation’s most famous tent was pitched in the grounds of Welford Park once again. Presenters Noel Fielding and Matt Lucas returned to lead the latest batch of bakers through brand new challenges set by Judges Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith. In Tuesday’s night’s episode of The Great British Bake Off on Channel 4, Abdul was named Star Baker and Janusz, 34, from East Sussex left the tent. It was the ninth episode in a nail-biting semi-final of The Great British Bake Off. In Patisserie week the bakers had to make Mini Charlottes for their Signature challenge, a vertical tart for the very tricky Technical, and Krokan for a stunning Showstopper. At the end Matt announced that Abdul was the Star Baker, and Noel followed with the hardest job of announcing that Janusz would be leaving the tent. Janusz said at the end of the episode: ‘It doesn’t surprise me. I am just leaving the tent, I am not upset. The best bakers are left clearly : it was an amazing time, with amazing people,’ Paul said: ‘You are a really good baker.’ Prue added: ‘You are not just a good baker you are such a lovely guy’. Janusz talks about the semi-final: "Before they announced who was leaving I knew what was coming so I wasn’t really surprised. Going this far in the series was such a personal achievement for me, so every week I got through was a bonus. And I had so many of those bonuses that I cannot complain. "Going into the tent for the last time with the three finalists, I was happy in the knowledge that I was amongst the three best bakers in the tent, and I thought oh my god this is unreal. That meant more to me than getting to the final. The four of us were really close, and after it was announced I was going they did keep saying to me, it’s only one week, we aren’t going to miss you that much, we will see you soon. "I always knew that Patisserie was my weakness, and could be my downfall. My usual precision and my ruler escaped me this week. Patisserie - it’s something you are good at or you are not, I can decorate nicely and neatly but with Patisserie it’s more about precision, and I needed much more time. "One thing I will take away from the series is that I know I will never make a Krokan again in my life. I had never heard of it before, and it was really difficult to find on the internet and research for it! And I will never get to the bottom of the missing Spring roll – I still don’t know where it rolled away to, I think it will remain as one of the mysteries of the tent. I had never made spring rolls before and I won’t be making them again. You just get them from the takeaway don’t you? "I have always tried to bring Polish ingredients to the tent which I tried to do in the semi final based on a favourite childhood treat of plums and chocolate, but I was worried about my mousse setting, that was the least of my worries! "I helped Syabira erect her Krokan while I was waiting for my sugar to set. She is a great buddy and she did my make-up expertly on Halloween week with eye-liner. My look for Not Fielding was inspired by drag and I had to bake in shocking high boots! These were easy the first day, as I was able to take them off between challenges. But on the second day I had to wear them all day and they were literally killing me - I just couldn’t get rid of them quickly enough by the end of the challenge and put my flat shoes on. "For my Showstopper, a Brighton Pride Krokan - Paul said it was executed well, and Prue said it had delicious flavours, but I knew it wasn’t really going to help me get to the final. There was definitely not enough time for me to finish it, so I had to present it to the judges without the final decoration, and that was disappointing. "I met Juergen [semi-finalist from the last series] and his rabbit Geoffrey recently for a coffee and a slice of cake, as he lives near me in Brighton. The cake was a raspberry genoise sponge and it was delicious, and he gave me a massive slice to take home, which was amazing. "Brighton is a very welcoming town and every single comment has been only positive, and they are pleased that I am representing Brighton. I also know how proud my home country Poland is of me, and they have been championing me throughout the series. "I wanted to bring fun to the tent, I took the baking seriously but if time allows I like to bring in a bit of comedy and have fun with everyone in the tent. "I really clicked with Noel – I love his art and my sister in Poland does too – so the first question she asked me after episode one is what is Noel like? I loved Matt’s sense of humour as well, we were often caught talking about stuff that would never make the edit, we always took our jokes too far. "It was always sad when someone was leaving the tent, but also we always wanted to give attention to the star baker. With me I wanted to celebrate the Star Baker so much after the semi-final, particularly as it was Abdul’s first one. So that took the edge off my leaving, as I wanted to focus on Abdul’s special moment. "Simon my partner was really supportive throughout, he gave really good constructive criticism even though he is not a lover of cake! I don’t think I could have done the series without him, that’s for sure. "I know it’s cheesy but from the very first application I sent off to then being in the tent I will be taking away the knowledge that I can go as far as I can dream in life by just believing that I can. I applied three times to Bake Off and with each rejection knew it just wasn’t the right time and it meant I got another year of creating fun bakes at home! "What is next for me in the baking world? Well I think it’s easy to forget that the GBBO contestants are actually just home/amateur bakers, so personally I’m hoping to develop my skills to a professional standard and share some of my own recipes across the world. And I hope I will always be remembered as the ‘Star Caker in Bake Week!'." Here he talks about his time in the Tent: "The thing I loved most about filming was challenging and pushing myself through things I never thought I could previously do. I found it hard being away from home as the day I left for GBBO was the day my boyfriend moved us into our first property we purchased together, but the first thing he did was to make sure the kitchen was ready for me and after my first time back home it already felt like home! "It was hard keeping it a secret but my friends are so lovely and supportive that when I made excuses about where I was they never questioned or challenged me in any way… Maybe they were happy for some peace and quiet! "I have learnt that having fun and baking by trial and error is the best way to develop ideas and recipes in your own kitchen. My best moment in the tent was definitely winning star baker on the first week! I worked SO hard to get to that point but still felt a bit of imposter syndrome so to have my bakes/place in the tent validated so early on meant the world to me. The worst moment I had in the tent was the “ice”cream technical challenge where I served “room-temperature” cream instead! "My favourite challenge was the Lemon Meringue Pie technical challenge because the instructions were genuinely just “make a lemon meringue pie” and I loved that I could use my own bakers intuition to achieve what I did! The challenge I found most difficult to even come up with an idea for was episode one showstopper the “Homemade Cake” because I just couldn’t think how I could make the concrete block of flats I grew up in, in Poland, look pretty! "There was a moment when we finished baking on week one, and we were sat at our benches next to our Homemade Cake showstoppers and somebody made me laugh which made my belly jiggle, which made the floor move, which made my cake wobble, which made me laugh more, which made my cake wobble more… and so on! "Working with the production team and crew I definitely have a lot more respect for the amount of work and people-power that goes into producing a TV show and keeping 12 excitable contestants (and Matt and Noel!) in line! They were FANTASTIC and made being away from my friends and family a lot easier than it would have been without them!" Q&A with Janusz: How much did you practice at home before going into the tent and how did you juggle that with life and work? How big is your love of baking and how many hours would you bake a week? Did you pack a lucky item for your stay? Can you describe the bakers as a group this year, and are you all on a what’s app group? How nervous were you when Paul and Prue started judging the first signature challenge and how did it feel when they judged the technical challenge? Is Paul Hollywood scary in real life and how did you cope with the blue eyed stare? Having watched Bake Off in the past, was the first day in the tent what you expected? If you could travel back in time what year/decade would you like to go back to and why? What was it like having the team clean up for you after all your bakes. Did you feel guilty if you made a mess? Who is your baking inspiration and what age did you start baking? The Bake Off family is a very exclusive club, how do you feel now being a new member? The warmth and love you get in the Tent is a very special feeling, what is the nicest thing in baking you have done for anyone/or given them? What is the cake you get asked to make the most for friends and family? If you were a cake topper what would you be and why? On a Bake Off Island you are allowed to take one utensil – what would it be? In three words how would you describe yourself? And how would your friends describe you? Are there any spices or flavours that you really dislike and why? When baking in the kitchen at home what music do you have on in the background, or is it just the hum of the fridge? Does it all seem a bit surreal that you have joined The Great British Bake Off family? Do you think work colleagues and friends will be shocked to see you on TV? What do you think it will be like watching yourself on television. Are you looking forward to it or terrified? AboutBIOGRAPHY: Janusz, 34 from East Sussex. Personal Assistant to Head Teacher Janusz grew up in Poland and moved to the UK 10 years ago. He is now living on the South East coast with his boyfriend, Simon, and their sausage dog, Nigel. Apart from baking, Janusz’s passions include internet culture, watching drag (he even bought his boyfriend a statue of Ru Paul) and collecting movie props. He was inspired to bake by his mother, who always baked on a Saturday; a tradition Janusz continued when he moved away from home to go to university. He describes his baking style as ‘cartoon-like, colourful and camp’, and loves working Polish ingredients into British staples. His favourite flavours are ginger and chocolate. Janusz will join Jo Brand and Tom Allen on AN EXTRA SLICE this Friday 11 November on C4 at 8.00 pm.
Source Channel 4
November 9, 2022 4:00am ET by Channel 4 |