Life after Great British Bake Off: Contestant shares what life is like after GBBO

Karen Wright, a former contestant shares what life is like after GBBO.

Transcript

00:00 I watched the final of the Great British Bake Off last night. I've watched every episode for every

00:08 series since probably it began, or certainly since I was in the Bake Off, which is now five years ago.

00:15 Yeah, 2018 it was my turn to take my place in the tent and I've been reflecting a little bit on

00:25 what's happened to me and to other bakers really since then. It's a great opportunity of course,

00:32 the Bake Off, if you manage to get into the tent, to develop your skills or move your life in a

00:45 different direction. Perhaps because obviously you get that platform and it gives you confidence. I

00:50 think I found more than anything else really, my experience in that tent gave me an opportunity to

01:00 think a bit outside my own box for a change and see what else I could do with that. So for me,

01:10 since then I've done lots of great things. I mean most is to do with performing in a way,

01:18 because food festivals, I've done some more TV, yeah I've done workshops, I'm out actually this

01:27 evening doing an event and things. So I've become more confident in public speaking and acting the

01:34 goat a bit really. I'm having a good time and it's amazing. I've worked with the Kerry Vander

01:41 Motel Club quite closely, so I do quite a bit of blogging and journaling and things. I write,

01:48 for our local paper every week, which is a great thrill, I love to do that. I love it when people

01:53 stop me and they do, when they see me and say "Oh I love your paper, I love your column, I love your

01:56 column." I say "Oh God, that's great to know somebody, somebody reads it." And this year I've

02:02 actually written a book and it's not about baking. So it's Meals on the Move, a campsite cooking

02:13 journey and it's available on Amazon and it's available on my website too, www.karenrightbakes.co.uk

02:20 and it's on offer at the moment, the actual fact for Christmas, but it's a great present. But that's

02:25 been a new venture and it's taken me in a completely different curve and yeah I could

02:32 call myself an author now, who would have thought that? And that's all come from the confidence I

02:37 got from the Bake Off, because not everybody wants to do anything else, you know, some people in

02:42 our year they were quite happy to go and have the experience and then slot straight back into the

02:46 life they had, which is great. And other people have gone and we see them on the television every day,

02:53 some of our group. Other people like me, you know, we just muggle about and just enjoy it

03:01 and yeah we'll see what this year's bakers, which way, which direction that they take

03:09 their opportunities and fly, hopefully. So yeah, that's just a bit of food for thought for me.

03:15 But anyway, yeah, back to me, very briefly. If you do want to get this book, it's not just

03:21 recipes, there are some cooking recipes, but it's photographs, it's journaling, it's places that I

03:27 went and it's really, really fascinating, I think, and I should know because I wrote it. Anyway,

03:37 we'll see. Thoughts? Great. Bye.