Great British Bake Off's Andy in tears over showstopper disaster

Watch: Andy faces disaster in The Great British Bake Off tent

What did you miss?

The Great British Bake Off's Andy walked out of the tent in tears after his toffee podium shattered with just 10 minutes to go.

For the Pastry Week showstopper the bakers had to build a Paris-Brest — a choux pastry ring on a freestanding podium base. Car mechanic Andy, 44, from Essex dropped his podium while he was assembling it and declared: "I'm done!"

What, how and why?

With just 10 minutes to go of the tricky final challenge Andy dropped his hard toffee podium as he was assembling it and it shattered on his work bench. He declared: "I've had it! I'm done!" Hosts Noel Fielding and Alison Hammond then announced there were just 10 minutes left, leaving him no time to make a replacement.

Andy exclaimed: "Right, forget about that. We've got to get this done, don't give up." He tried to balance his choux pastry ring on to the remaining part of the stand. But then decided to leave it on the side. He said: "I can't put any touches on it, it's just going to go bang." As time up was called, Andy walked out of the tent in tears to take a moment.

Presenting it to judges Prue Leith and Paul Hollywood he said: "My first batch went, it just shattered. It was always gonna be a little bit tricky with essentially sugar." The judges liked the flavours but teased Andy about calling pastry cream 'creme mousseline' "creme Mussolini" after the Italian dictator.

Later Andy said: "I'm proud of the choux, but using toffee wasn't the right thing to do." He joked: "I don't know what to do. I can't bribe 'em any more. I've run out of money."

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What else happened on Bake Off?

Viewers loved the banter between fan-favourite contestant Nelly and host Noel Fielding. The Mighty Boosh star teased the 44-year-old Slovakian nurse about the beret she was wearing. Nelly said she had been given the headwear by her son to wear in the tent for good luck.

But Fielding compared her to a character from board game Guess Who? Later in the show he teased her that she looked like she was undercover. Nelly told him: "I am undercover. I am watching you!"

One viewer wrote on social media platform X: "‘You look like someone off the guess who board’. Noel isn’t wrong but what an icon. #GBBO"

Another said: "Love Nelly #GBBO and the banter between her and noel more please" One commented: "Nelly looks like someone off the Guess Who board why is that accurate #GBBO"

While another laughed: "Noel telling Nelly that she looks like she’s on the guess who board, I’m dying." And another posted: "This is the first time I've seen a real life person look like a character from Duolingo."

At the end of the episode, Andy ended up being sent home from the competition.

He said: "Just sad you know. I've had such a fantastic time. I've had so many laughs, but that's the standard. C'est la vie." Judge Leith said "It's so sad to see Andy go, I mean, I adore the guy, but he just didn't have a good week."

Pastry week saw the eight remaining contestants bake 12 frangipane tarts for the signature challenge. Category manager Gill from Lancashire impressed judges Prue Leith and Paul Hollywood with her blueberry and meringue tarts, while Illiyin and Dylan had to remake their pastry, meaning their tarts were underbaked.

Dental student Sumayah and mechanic Andy both burnt their pastry tarts. For the technical they were challenged to make Greek spinach and feta pie spanakopita with flaky filo pastry. Gill came bottom in the tricky challenge, while the top three were Nelly, Christian and Dylan in first place.

Gill won Star Baker. Judge Hollywood said: "Gill's always remained in a very safe position 'til the last few weeks and today she sort of stepped out from the pack and I expect better things from her going forward."

The Great British Bake Off airs Channel 4 at 8pm on Tuesday.