Bake Off 2023: Everything you need to know about series 14

The Great British Bake Off crowned Matty as the winner of the show after his astonishing baking journey.

The teacher went up against Dan and Josh in the final but he was named the winner after he impressed Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith with his three tiered chocolate show-stopper inspired by his first bake.

More congratulations were in order as Matty and his partner Lara are going to get married in June 2024.

It's been an incredible series with Alison Hammond joining the show as a host alongside Noel Fielding after Matt Lucas had quit the show.

We got to know and love all 12 amateur bakers after they entered its iconic tent and competed to whip up handshake-earning bakes and emerge victorious.

The Great British Bake Off 2023 winner

Matty, 28 – PE and science teacher from Cambridgeshire

Matty is The Great British Bake Off's 2023 winner.

The teacher is his family's designated baker, making cakes for all sorts of celebrations — including his own wedding cake for his upcoming nuptials with fiancée Lara.

He says his baking style is 'rustic but neat' and prefers traditional flavours.

After winning, Matty said: “I don’t know what to say, everyone said you should go on Bake Off and I thought it was a throwaway comment and never really listened to it. I never thought I would be on the show let alone win it!”

Who were the Great British Bake Off 2023 finalists?

Dan, 42 – Civil engineering resource planner from Cheshire

Patisserie expert Dan has more than 300 cookbooks at home from which he draws inspiration for his favourite puddings and pies.

He described himself as a perfectionist who has been cooking since 2007.

Josh, 27 – Post-doctoral research associate from Leicestershire

Josh brought his chemist skills to Bake Off and will demonstrate his attention to detail and keenness to experiment with baking in the tent.

A keen rugby player, he said he often bakes treats for his teammates for post-training session indulgence.

Who has been eliminated from The Great British Bake Off?

Week nine: Tasha, 27

Tasha – who is the first deaf contestant on the show – has fallen at the final hurdle before the Final as she had a disaster in Patisserie Week, the Semi-Final.

The baker - who was first inspired to start baking after learning from her mother and grandmother - struggled this week both in the technical challenge and in the showstopper.

Dan, Matty and Josh made it through to the final.

Week eight: Cristy, 33

Cristy left the Bake Off tent in party week after she failed to impress with her Willy Wonka buffet showstopper which Hollywood said was "too rough and ready".

It was Bake Off's first ever party week and the tent was packed with lots of drama.

The baker — whose speciality is cakes — had excelled in the technical challenge as she came second for her chocolate caterpillar cake.

It was a close call this week though as Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith struggled to choose between sending Cristy or Dan home after Dan had struggled with the first two challenges.

Week seven: Saku, 50

Saku did not make it into the quarter finalsafter her flavours failed to live up to Leith's expectation in dessert week.

The baker hails from Sri Lanka and she enjoys taking this country's unique ingredients and flavours and using them in her baking.

She found her passion for baking when she moved to the UK with her husband in 2003, and she had been celebrating Sri Lankan cuisine in the competition.

The Sri Lankan-born intelligence analyst from Herefordshire served up creme caramels with cardamon that were branded too stodgy by the judges because she had used too many eggs.

And her Showstopper meringue bomb base cracked. Leith said the bee-themed bomb was beautifully decorated.

But Hollywood told her: "It's not much of a bomb though. It's just a few choux buns sitting in the middle of a stand."

On being sent home, Saku said: "I'm so proud of myself. I won't miss baking. I will miss them. I'm really sad to leave them. It's a privilege to be part of this lovely family."

Week six: Dana, 25

Self confessed 'tidy baker' Dana struggled with botanicals week and she was sent home after six weeks in the baking tent.

The technical challenge proved difficult for the rising star and she came second bottom.

Later, her show-stopper had the perfect look but Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith felt her flavours were not up to standards.

Finishing on a positive note, Dana said: "Feel like I've smashed it week six, I'm just trying to think of all the fun I've had in the last six weeks."

Week five: Nicky, 52

Nicky learned to bake from her grandmother, who she would often help in the kitchen as a child. She describes her desserts as being "little traditional bakes that evoke fond memories".

Unfortunately the retired cabin crew member struggled with pastry week and Hollywood said he had never eaten "dry" apple pie when sampling some of her showstopper.

Remaining upbeat, the baker made light of her mistakes. She said: "It’s been like a bag of pants this week and you can’t stay in after a bag of pants, there’s no way."

Week five: Rowan, 21

Rowan — the youngest baker this year — loved to show off his "grand, opulent side" when baking and doesn't do things by halves.

But sadly week five was Rowan's time to leave in a double elimination. Alison Hammond tried to give the baker a hand in getting his pies out of the baking tins.

However, nothing could be done and his Absolutely Fabulous-inspired pastries wouldn't come out of the tins without collapsing.

Week three: Abbi, 27

Disappointed Abbi left the tent after struggling to get to grips with bread week.

Unfortunately the veg grower – who "bakes with a touch of fairytale" – had a bad start with her signature bake Cottage loaf that she sweetly nicknamed "flat Janice".

Not losing determination, Abbi poured her heart into the next two challenges – only to continue to face further problems with both the technical, where she came near the bottom, and finally with the show-stopper.

Week two: Keith, 60

Keith was sent home after struggling during biscuit week, the cast were tasked with using marshmallows to make tea cakes and wagon wheels but the chartered accountant had some timing issues which meant his marshmallow wasn't ready in time.

This led to him rushing his treats, and he also struggled later with the showstopper challenge and came bottom in the technical which meant he was ultimately sent home.

Week one: Amos, 43

In the first week it was Amos who was eliminated from the kitchen first. The 43-year-old deli and grocery manager struggled in the first week, particularly with the showstopper challenge where the bakers were tasked with making an animal cake.

Amos' whale-themed cake was described as "bone dry" by the judges, and it ultimately led to him being asked to leave the competition.

Following his exit, Amos broke down in tears as he said: "It was the showstopper that stopped my show. As soon as I heard my name I came out of my body."

Who is hosting The Great British Bake Off this year?

Life in the tent was a little different this year. Actor and comedian Matt Lucas revealed in December that he would be leaving the show to focus on other commitments after spending the past three series co-hosting the series and chatting to bakers mid-bake (and often mid-stress).

The news left his Bake-Off partner Noel Fielding co-hostless — but it wasn’t long before a replacement was unveiled with ITV’s Good Morning presenter Alison Hammond stepping in.

In late August, we got our first glimpse of Hammond’s Bake-Off debut via a photo of her standing with her new co-host Fielding and the show’s judges outside of its familiar tent.

This was shortly followed by a teaser trailer released by Channel 4 which provided an animated introduction to Hammond’s arrival.

Set to Belinda Carlisle’s Heaven is a Place on Earth, the one-minute advert saw various ingredients making their way to the Bake Off kitchen and being mixed together to make a big chocolate cake, adorned with raspberries.

Judges Prue Leith and Paul Hollywood are joined by Fielding and later Hammond herself before each tuck into the freshly baked treat.

The Great British Bake Off was originally hosted by Sue Perkins and Mel Giedroyc from its 2010 debut until 2016 when the show switched to Channel 4.

Once there, the series was hosted by Fielding and Sandi Toksvig, the latter of whom continued to host until the end of series 10 in 2019.

Who is judging The Great British Bake Off this year?

Despite having a bit of a host switch-up, long-time Bake Off viewers will be pleased to know that the show’s judges haven’t gone anywhere. Hollywood and Leith once again return to the tent to strike fear into the eyes and aprons of the show’s new hopefuls.

Hollywood has been with Bake Off since the show started, while Leith joined after the series switched to Channel 4 in 2017, taking over from previous judge Mary Berry.

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