John Whaite

“I don't question the importance of learning how to cook at school. It's vital that children know how to create a few dishes to sustain themselves in later life, but that's different from the emotional, nurturing environment of the home kitchen with Mum.”

“The refreshing tang of lemon cake makes such a change to the deep sweetness of many bakes.”

“As a farmer's son, I am familiar with the long, mucky shifts of our dairy workers.”

“There's something very relaxing about the aromatic scent of rosemary. I adore it.”

“Later, one of my first jobs was to feed the calves. It meant getting up before the crack of dawn and going to school stinking of manure - you can never shift the smell; it soaks your clothes and hair.”

“I'm not a fan of plain white walls and pristine ornaments dotted around; my house needs to feel lived in and protective.”

“When you are concentrating on baking 24/7, it is incredible how much you learn.”

“I had been offered a six-figure deal to write two cookery books. Six figures, at just 23.”

“I'm very, very loyal to Steph and the gang at 'Packed Lunch.'”

“On 'Bake Off' there's lots of stuff no one notices until afterwards. At the time you're too busy concentrating. All the other bits, like the funny innuendoes, often go over your head.”

“I had zero interest in banking, but the mountainous pile of legal training contract rejections forced me to look elsewhere. As a malleable graduate, I, as many students do, took whatever I could get.”

“Just to see two men or two women dancing together, it's not necessarily about sexuality, it's just about intimacy and respect.”

“To see a world where two men can dance together, it can instil the fear of God into people.”

“If you're baking full-time, you need to hit the gym 24/7.”

“A school culinary education is a militant operation. In that world, everything depends on grading and competition. The emotional element is extracted, leaving raw, regimented skill.”

“Make the choice, if you can, to get milk direct from farms or farm drop services. We need the supermarkets, of course we do, but we need our farmers, too.”

“When I'm in the kitchen, measuring the amount of sugar, flour or butter I need for a recipe or cracking the exact number of eggs - I am in control.”

“I can vividly remember the first time I ate a pasty. After a busy day shopping with my gran, she treated me to one. Wide-eyed and with a watering mouth, I chomped down into the crisp, buttery casing. It yielded to my eager bite; the pastry flaked and fluttered down my front.”

“I just want to say to men, it doesn't matter if you're straight, it doesn't matter if you're gay, asexual, whatever you are, you have to speak, you have to talk, you have to find the help that you need, the help is there.”

“I was doing my barrister training in Leeds, so I was getting up at 5 A.M. and getting home and 10 P.M., and for me, that was a really stressful time.”