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Great British Bake Off winner Candice Brown ‘not surprised’ about Mexican Week drama: ‘Controversy makes people talk about it’-Rachael O'Connor-Entertainment – Metro
‘I’m very upset I didn’t see a nacho hat.’
Former Great British Bake Off winner Candice Brown says she’s ‘not surprised’ about the controversy surrounding the show’s recent Mexican Week episode (Picture: PA)
Great British Bake Off star Candice Brown has offered her opinion on the recent scandal that saw contestants make tacos for Mexican Week.
Week four of the Channel 4 show proved controversial, both due to the lack of baking used in the technical, and a joke by Noel Fielding and Matt Lucas that some saw as perpetuating harmful stereotypes.
Professional chef Candice, who won the 2016 series of the show, now puts her culinary skills to use in her Eversholt pub the Green Man, which she runs with her brother.
She recently spoke to Metro.co.uk to launch the Heineken SmartDispense Green Pub Guide, which lists some of the UK’s top pubs striving for more sustainability in the industry.
In the interview, Candice opened up about her mental health and the importance of showing kindness to everyone even as some days she struggles to get out of bed herself.
She has also reflected on her time on Bake Off, and says she totally understands why the show has had to branch out.
Candice runs a pub and kitchen in England after winning the 2016 series of Bake Off (Picture: Joe Pepler/PinPep)
The star says she understands why GBBO branched out after 13 seasons and ‘a lot of cakes’ (Picture: Channel 4)
‘A cake is a cake, there’s only so many things you can do with a Victoria sponge,’ she offered.
‘There are so many cakes, we’re on what, season 13 now? That’s a lot of cakes, a lot of technicals. Why not branch out? In the early seasons, Bake Off was so cake-oriented. It had to be sweet, there was very little savoury.
‘And now it’s changing with the times. Because there are so many different things people can do. We’re not just one trick ponies.
Referencing Bake Off fans as ‘staunch followers’ of the show, she admitted: ‘I’m not surprised there’s controversy – but you know what, controversy makes people talk about it!
Candice said she’s ‘not surprised’ by the controversy but it ‘makes people talk’ about the show (Picture: BBC/Love Productions/Tom Graham)
The food challenges – and jokes – in the episode didn’t go down well with some viewers (Picture: Channel 4)
‘I think they should have all worn sombreros to do it,’ she joked.
‘I’m very upset I didn’t see a nacho hat. I would have made it and I would have worn it!’
Candice went on to call Bake Off ‘an incredible family to be part of,’ saying it’s ‘lovely’ to watch new people join each year.
The chef is extremely impressed by this year’s contestants, and even joked: ‘I look at it now and I think “My God, I’d get my a**e handed to me!”
‘But then I sit back and think, “No you’re good at what you do, you’re still good!” I love it and it’s still my proudest moment of my whole life.’
Winning the revered show is Candice’s ‘proudest moment’ (Picture: BBC/Love Productions/Mark Bourdillon)
She points to Carole, who was eliminated during Dessert Week, as her favourite from this series, explaining: ‘I love people who are slightly different.
‘Maybe that was me, maybe I was the different person [in 2016]. I wore lipstick and heels, that was my suit of armour trying not to absolutely poo myself.’
She added that Janusz also appears really strong this season, but warned: ‘You’re only as good as your last bake.’
‘Every week it changes. You can think you’ve got your strongest week coming up and you absolutely fall flat. You can have a weak week and then end up as star baker which happened to me.
‘That’s what makes Bake Off interesting and why it’s still so popular.’
The professional chef previously opened up about her mental health in the same interview with Metro.co.uk (Picture: Getty Images Europe
In the same interview, Candice – who has a bubbly personality and offered positive outlooks on everything throughout the conversation – explained she understands the importance of seeing the bright side in a world when things so often seem grey.
‘I have my own mental health battles and the world can be quite grey sometimes,’ she said.
‘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.
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‘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 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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