Former Countdown star Carol Vorderman has been crowned the winner of Channel 4’s Celebrity Bake Off.
The maths whizz narrowly defeated model and TV host Kelly Brook in episode five of the series, which raises money for Stand Up To Cancer.
Vorderman, who lost her mother to cancer three years ago, thanked Bake Off for allowing her to take part for a good cause and said: “All of this matters.”
Thank you @BritishBakeOff #GBBO for a chance to try to raise more money for @SU2C. My Mum died of cancer 3 years ago, my daughter is a research scientist in Cambridge investigating the nanotechnology of cancer drug delivery. All of this matters #Ambassador @ProstateCymru ❤️ https://t.co/MEjpYmYeIM
— Carol Vorderman (@carolvorders) April 7, 2020
Vorderman and Brook were joined by TV judge Robert Rinder and comedian Mo Gilligan in being tasked with baking a sandwich biscuit, a sweet bread-based technical and a cake showstopper inspired by their guilty pleasure.
Vorderman, 59, wowed the judges with her showstopper, an extravagant bathtub inspired effort complete with champagne bathwater.
Judges Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith were suitably impressed by her baking, with the latter saying: “It’s very clever, it’s very witty, it’s a lovely concept.”
Hollywood added: “You’ve done a great job.”
Brook – who earlier in the show received a famous Hollywood handshake for her egg muffin biscuit sandwiches – also went for a champagne-inspired showstopper.
It’s a photo finish! Congratulations, @carolvorders! 👑 #StandUpToCancer #GBBO pic.twitter.com/HOoBgM3fLS
— Stand Up To Cancer UK (@SU2CUK) April 7, 2020
Her guilty pleasure was a bubble bath after a long day of working in the garden. The cake, another flamboyant design, was made up of chocolate butter cream, champagne sponge and peach jam.
Leith described it as “absolutely exquisite,” adding it was a “magnificent achievement”.
Rinder and Gilligan did not fare as well. Former Strictly star Rinder baked a cake inspired by his love of “trashy” novels, filled with strawberry jam and strawberry sponge.
The book covers were made of fondant icing. But it did not quite go to plan. Leith said it “looks like trash” and “so unappetising” . She did, however, praise the taste.
Hollywood added “the colours are hideous, the design is terrible” but the taste is “really good”.
Gilligan, who said his guilty pleasure is shoes, cobbled together a trainer cake. It was made of vanilla sponge, peanut butter cream and raspberry jam.
The judges were not impressed by the finished product. Hollywood said “it does look like a train, as opposed to a trainer”.
But the taste was up to scratch, Hollywood said, adding: “That’s a delicious cake my friend.”
Previous winners on this series of Celebrity Bake Off include comedian Jenny Eclair, actor James Buckley, Queer Eye’s Tan France and YouTuber Joe Sugg.