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Great British Bake Off’s Candice Brown: ‘I have days where I don’t want to get out of bed because of depression’-Rachael O'Connor-Entertainment – Metro
‘The world can be quite grey sometimes.’
Candice Brown shows as much kindness as possible as she knows what it’s like to suffer with your mental health (Picture: Joe Pepler/PinPep)
Great British Bake Off star Candice Brown has spoken about the importance of kindness as she opens up about her mental health.
The professional chef, who won the 2016 series of the acclaimed show, runs a pub with her brother in Eversholt, where she can be found changing kegs and cleaning up as well as running things in the kitchen.
Speaking to Metro.co.uk as part of the launch of the Heineken Green Pubs guide, Candice spoke candidly about the joy – and struggles – of being a pub landlord, as well as how important it is to look after your mental health.
Throughout the interview, the bubbly chef spoke happily about her role in the pub and time on Bake Off, often giving the most optimistic look on everything.
She then explained she does so as she understands how important it is to see the bright side in a world when things are so often grey.
‘I have my own mental health battles and the world can be quite grey sometimes,’ she said.
‘You see these things that go on all over the world, and we’ve had these two horrendous years, and I actually had to reprogramme my brain a bit.
The cook rose to fame by winning the 2016 series of Great British Bake Off (Picture: BBC/Love Productions/Mark Bourdillon)
Candice urges everyone to take the good parts of life ‘and enjoy it and run with it’ (Picture: Getty Images Europe)
‘I have days where I don’t want to get out of bed because of depression and PTSD and triggers and things like that. But I’m very good at giving advice and talking to people, and it’s so important to be yourself and be kind.
‘Because life is tough and it can be difficult and it can be grey. So take the lightness and enjoy it and run with it, because we only have ourselves and the people around us – it’s so much easier to be nice and to laugh and to enjoy.’
Candice admitted that talking about depression and anxiety can be ‘tough’ but ‘it’s important.’
‘I’ve started speaking about it recently and it’s started opening up these conversations. I think that’s how times are changing now. People are having more open conversations now.
‘We’re becoming so much more accepting and open to learning.’
The chef now works as a publican, running the Green Man pub in Eversholt (Picture: BBC/Love Productions/Tom Graham)
Candice is working alongside Heinekein’s SmartDispenser to launch the first Green Pub guide, which showcases some of the top pubs across the UK that are making moves towards better sustainability in the industry.
And while she loves being a pub landlord, it hasn’t been an easy time for the industry, with the star admitting there’s been ‘lots of tears’ along the way.
‘It can be very very tough and there have been a lot of tears,’ she said.
‘Like everywhere in hospitality we’ve been struggling with staff and facing everything with the energy bills crisis and so on. It is tough but at the end of the day I’m very, very proud of it.’
Candice is a dedicated landlord and works in all areas of the pub (Picture: PA)
Like her time on Bake Off, Candice puts absolutely everything into running the pub and says she never wanted to leave the work to anybody else (‘If I have to work, I work. If the cleaners don’t turn up I clean. I’m behind the bar or waitressing or filling in in the kitchen.’)
But while Bake Off fans may travel to the Green Man to catch a glimpse of the chef – who wore her lipstick and heels like a coat of armour during her time on the show – they may not always recognise her.
‘Normally I’m in dungarees, barely any time to shower that morning, hair scraped back with glasses on, and they kind of do a double take and go “Is that you Candice?” and I go “Yeaaaahhh,”‘ she laughed.
The star grew up in a pub alongside her brother, with their parents acting as landlords for 25 years, and she’s in awe at how things have changed over the years – particularly when it comes to sustainability.
She and her brother are determined to make their Green Man pub as sustainable as possible (Picture: Getty Images Europe
‘It’s something I think about quite a lot,’ she admitted.
‘One of the main changes is the consumer – they’re interested in sustainability. People want to know what we’re doing. They’re interested in where this food comes from.
‘We get the meat from a local butcher. Our sourdough is from a local lady. It’s not food that’s come over from Peru that has a massive carbon footprint after taking several flights.
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‘But also some things have stayed the same, we wanted to keep the pub as a pub. It’s a traditional pub, we never want to let that die out.
‘Pubs are an important part of British culture and it’s something to be proud of.’
Candice and Heineken SmartDispense have launched the Green Pub Guide showcasing the top UK pubs striving for a greener future – learn more here.
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