First contestant to leave Great British Bake Off describes feeling ‘gutted’

The first Great British Bake Off contestant to leave the tent has said he is “gutted”.

The 16th season of the Channel 4 reality competition series returned on Tuesday night with a batch of 12 bakers who entered its famous tent with the hopes of impressing judges Paul Hollywood and Dame Prue Leith.

Not everyone made it through the first week, however, with scientist Hassan, 30, from South Yorkshire, being the first baker to leave the tent.

Speaking about how he felt when he learned he was leaving the tent, Hassan said: “Genuinely gutted, I had a strong inkling I was out after the judging for my showstopper, so when I heard my name, I thought ‘Damn, I guess that’s it for me then.’

“I remember Prue coming up to give us a big hug first, then turning left and having a huge queue of people lined up to give us a hug.

“The support from all of them felt reassuring to me and helped cheer me up a lot.”

The series, which is hosted by Alison Hammond and Noel Fielding, kicked off with cake week – which saw the contestants face three different challenges; producing a Swiss roll with an inlay design, making fondant fancies in the technical challenge by figuring out the flavours and recipe themselves; and finally baking a landscape cake showstopper.

Hassan said: “My best moment was when I got told where I was going to be baking for episode one, walking up to my bench and seeing all my ingredients and my recipe there, and just being excited thinking ‘finally getting ready to do some baking.’

“My worst was after I made my Swiss roll, it didn’t come out as planned, but the worst thing was that it affected my baking after that.”

Despite leaving early, Hassan felt his baking skills “drastically improved” since being on the programme, adding that he was fascinated to see how the series was made.

He said: “I guess the biggest takeaway is that I actually got onto the show. For me I’m usually always interested in how things work, so being part of Bake Off gave me a big understanding and insight into TV work, how things all work and the effort that goes into developing a TV show like this with all the secrecy/background work involved.

“I feel my skills in recipe development, flavour combos/ideas and creating bakes that fit a specific brief have drastically improved since being on Bake Off. There’s a lot of ideas I don’t think I would have ever done, unless I was on Bake Off and asked to create these bakes.

“(GBBO) is extremely challenging and can have a lot of ups and downs, but it’s a great way to push yourself out of your comfort zone, meet some amazing talented individuals and be part of a unique opportunity.”

The first episode also saw Ukrainian-born office assistant Nataliia, 32, crowned as the week’s Star Baker.

Previous winners on the series include Georgie Grasso, who claimed the title in 2024, while Matty Edgell won in 2023.

Great British Bake Off returns to Channel 4 every Tuesday at 8pm.