Bake Off winner Candice doesn’t want to be ‘the new Nigella’

This year’s Bake Off winner Candice Brown has laughed off suggestions she’s heading to Hollywood – and says she’s got absolutely no intentions of swiping Nigella’s crown.

The former PE teacher was compared to Nigella more than a few times during the series, and is now rumoured to the subject of a bidding war between THREE US TV channels – one of which wants her to replace her on The Taste.

Speaking to the Standard, Candice said: “Funnily enough, as my other half dropped me off at the train station, about an hour later he forwarded that on to me and said, ‘You aren’t leaving for the US are you?’ I said, ‘No, you’d have to drop me at Heathrow for that.’

“I’m definitely here at the moment, I haven’t got a big enough suitcase for that. We do have a good giggle at those bits and pieces. I literally just love this crazy, crazy whirlwind that I’m in at the moment and I don’t know what I’m going to do next.”

Still, new Nigella or not, a career as a celebrity chef is definitely on the cards for 31-year-old Candice. After returning to work at Ashlyns School in Berkhamsted after her win, she took the tricky decision to quit teaching after 8 years to concentrate on her baking.

“My headteacher told me: ‘You’ve got to do this, you can’t do it half-heartedly,” she explained. “I wouldn’t forgive myself if you missed out. It’s not that we don’t want you here but you have to give it 100 per cent.

“If we can’t encourage our staff to follow their dreams and inspire, then we are not doing our job properly. You are showing the kids that anything is possible.’ It was so incredibly lovely of him to say this.

“This has been such an agonising decision to make. Never in a million years did I ever go into the show thinking this would happen. That is why I have been back at school teaching since I won the final.

“I have been teaching for about eight years now and I love it. But since winning the final, I have also been completely bowled over by the amazing opportunities that I have been offered.”

Hmmm. amazing opportinities in America, Candice?