Can you bake?

I have baked, I have involved myself in the baking process, but no one has wanted to eat said baked goods. I made rock buns and my mum gave me bicarb of soda instead of baking soda and my grandad tried one and frothed at the mouth we though he was having a fit. 

Describe your baking style in one word.

Traumatic.

What’s your favourite baked good?

I like them all. Possibly, vicky sponge inches forward.

Do you cook much in everyday life?

Oh, I'm a brilliant cook, I see baking as a very different thing. I can cook savoury things- cooking is just heating things up, baking is science.

What’s been your biggest culinary triumph?

The vegan quiche I made on the show.

And your biggest disaster?

The cake I made on the show.

Are you a fan of Bake Off?

I love it so much! I've watched every episode.

What’s it like, walking into the tent for the first time?

I honestly thought this is going to be the beginning of my cookery career, I thought they'd ask me to bring out a cookbook. I'd have my kitchenware, open shops, a podcast… I had it all planned out!

What aspect of the show were you most nervous about?

The baking bit.

Have you sought advice from anyone ahead of the show?

Yes, a therapist- the show made me get a ADHD assessment...I have severe ADHD! 

Have you done any practice?

No, I thought that would make things worse...

What are the strengths and weaknesses you brought with you into the tent?

Thinking I could bake and thinking I could bake.

What’s it like being faced by Paul and Prue?

I wanted Prue to be my mum, she was so good with me, she tried to help when it all went wrong. She said, 'don't worry darling'. Her dress sense is amazing, she glided in. Paul has eyes like whirlpools, when he liked my quiche, I was happier than when I got my degree, it means more. He said my cakes weren't inedible, but it was in the same bus - he's a poet not a baker. 

Why is Stand Up to Cancer important to you?

My granny died of cancer she was in her early fifties and in her first year of retirement. It's the cruellest thing and so unfair. We're so lucky to be living in a time where they are making such big advancements, but it's obviously very costly.

• Photographer: mark bourdillon
• Interview aupplied by C4.