The 12 contestants for the new series of The Great British Bake Off have been announced ahead of the Channel 4 show’s return on 24 September. The 15th season of the show presented by Noel Fielding , Alison Hammond , Prue Leith and Paul Hollywood will see the 12 amateur bakers, from eclectic backgrounds and professions compete for this year’s baking crown. Among the bakers are 71-year-old former nail technician and mother of four Hazel from Kent and 19-year-old Sumayah, the youngest contestant on this year’s show, who is a dentistry student from Lancashire.
Without further ado, let’s meet the bakers hoping to impress the judges this year and make it all the way to the final. Gill is a 53-year-old senior category manager from Lancashire. An avid baker since an early age, Gill has been raising money with her baked goods, including pies, cakes and pastries for Alzheimer’s charities since 2015.
In an unusual factoid, Gill became the UK’s youngest driving instructor in 1993, aged just 21. Nelly is a 44-year-old palliative care assistant from Dorset via Slovakia. She grew up in Slovakia with her father before moving to Austria to become a nurse.
As well as baking traditional Slovakian cuisine she also likes to add a bit of spice to things to represent her husband’s Pakistani heritage. Mike is a 29-year-old farm manager from Wiltshire who was shortlisted for Young Farmer of the Year at the 2024 National Arable and Grassland Awards and is an advocate for the LGBT+ commun.