Viewers last night who tuned into The Great British Bake Off on BBC One were witnessing history. Not only was Candice Brown crowned the winner of the seventh series, but she was crowned the final ever winner of the show on the BBC. Next year, the baking competition moves to its new home of Channel 4, with hosts Mel and Sue and judge Mary Berry stepping down from their roles. Paul Hollywood will however continue with the show.

Credit: BBC

Credit: BBC

To celebrate so many good years on the BBC, we've decided to go back and take a look at all the winners of the series to-date, and some of their most memorable moments…

Edd Kimber - Season 1

The first season of Bake Off was a different beast to the show we all know and love today. Taking place in a variety of different locations each week, bakers were as usual put through three different challenges with one contestant being sent home each week. Bakes were fairly simple but if there's one thing that can be said about eventual winner Edd Kimber, it's that he dealt with his bakes with a sense of precision and intensity that every baker that came to the show after him hoped to emulate. His best bakes perhaps came in the third week of the show, where contestants had to bake bread. Edd's olive bread with fennel and cumin looked absolutely delicious, whilst his tomato and mozzarella showstopper still gets the salivary glands going to this day.

Joanne Wheatley - Season 2

Moving to the grounds of Valentines Mansion in Redbridge, The Great British Bake Off invited 12 new bakers to compete for the title of the best amateur baker in Britain following the huge success of the first series. Following on from the first year's male winner, season 2 saw an all-female finale before Joanne Wheatley eventually walked away as champion. Perhaps her most impressive moment came in week 6, when the bakers were tasked with coming up with some beautiful desserts. Providing a gorgeous rum and raisin baked cheesecake, coming first in the technical with her chocolate roulade and delivering a stellar limoncello and white chocolate croquembouche, she took home Star Baker that week and from then on out, she was the leader of the pack.

John Whaite - Season 3

In a complete switch from the second season's finale, this third season saw three men competing for the championship and took the bakers to the tent at Harptree Court in Somerset for the first time. Despite not picking up the title of Star Baker since the second week, John Whaite managed to deliver an extremely impressive trio of challenges in the finale and take home the win. It's something he's perhaps utilised more than those who came before him, bagging him television shows, baking spots on a variety of different platforms and seeing him quickly become a major fan favourite. Mega fans will never forget his beautiful Heaven and Hell chiffon cake from the finale - it looked absolutely delicious.

Frances Quinn - Season 4

Returning to Harptree Court, seasons 3 and 4 were perhaps where Bake Off was taking off to its fullest, taking the country by storm and earning fans across the entire globe. 13,000 bakers applied to appear on the show and another all-female finale beckoned, with eventual winner Frances Quinn kicking off what would be a long line of female champions right up until this week's Bake Off finale. Frances sometimes stumbled because she tried to do so much with her bakes, but when she got it right she presented some absolutely gorgeous creations. Her signature moment came in pastry week, when her beautiful showstopper consisted of French framboise cream horns, bass clef palmiers and sheet music mille-feuille.

Nancy Birtwhistle - Season 5

Bake Off moved once more but took the tent with it this season, bringing its cast to Welford Park in Berkshire for one of its most-watched and exciting seasons to-date. Eventual winner Nancy Birthwhistle is a personal favourite - she reminded me and so many others of their loved ones at home who enjoyed baking and couldn't have brought a more relatable sense of self to the show. She helped bring the innuendo like no contestant had ever done before and, above all provided some incredible bakes. Though she didn't win Star Baker since her first week in the competition, she started on a high and was determined to end on one also. Her Three Little Pigs pie and raspberry ripple eclairs are bakes that stick in my memory - Nancy is definitely a baker I'd love to have cater my birthday. She's one of a kind.

Nadiya Hussain - Season 6

Nadiya Hussain won what many say was the most emotional season of The Great British Bake Off ever. When Nadiya took Star Baker home on week five and then consecutively in final weeks 8 and 9, she looked sure to take the prize home - and she did that exactly. Even bringing Mary Berry to tears in the final episode of the series, Nadiya not only provided some stellar food for the cast and crew to munch on, but broke down barriers and stereotypes when it came to the Muslim community in a time where racial tensions were beginning to creep up on people all around the UK once more. She even went on to bake a cake for the Queen! Legendary.

Candice Brown - Season 7

And so we come to 2016 and our most recent winner, Candice Brown. At the very start of the series, not many would have pegged Candice as the potential champ of the series. Jane or Val or one of the bakers who seemed a little more experienced seemed to garner all of the fans, and so surprising it was to see Candice lift the trophy at the end of it all; surprising, but very well-deserved. She's a great baker who has utilised all of the recipes and advice from her grandmother to hone her skills. I can't wait to see what's next for her.


by for www.femalefirst.co.uk
find me on and follow me on