‘Great British Bake Off’ 2017 Final: Sophie Faldo Crowned Winner

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Sophie Faldo has been crowned the winner of this year’s ‘Great British Bake Off’.

The 33-year-old beat off stiff competition from her fellow finalists Steven Carter-Bailey and Kate Lyon on the Channel 4 show.

'Bake Off' champ: Sophie Faldo
'Bake Off' champ: Sophie Faldo
Channel 4

Sophie was the bookies’ favourite going into the final and also topped an exclusive HuffPost UK poll, with 50% of readers voting her as their favourite to win this year’s competition.

After being crowned the winner, a clearly emotional Sophie said: “I’m sure it’ll sink in but it hasn’t quite yet. I just kind of disbelieve really.

She added: “The idea of winning is such a minute possibility. I don’t think I’ll ever forget this as long as I live.”

Paul Hollywood admitted he was “shocked by the standard” in the final, and said it had been a “real learning curve” for Sophie.

Runner up Steven added: “I know Sophie can appear quite tough, but she’s not - she’s soft. She was as scared as Kate and I were. And for the first time in 10 weeks I saw vulnerability. She put her heart and soul into this, and she earned it.”

Meanwhile, host Sandi Toksvig and many of this year’s contestants took to Twitter to congratulate Sophie on her win.

Many congratulations to @sophiefaldo a worthy winner and my love and admiration to all the bakers taking part in @Channel4GBBO this year x

— Sandi Toksvig (@sanditoksvig) October 31, 2017

WHAT A EPISODE!!! @SophieFaldo you smashed it bud 💯⚡️ Well done champ!!!!

— Liam Charles (@LiamcBakes) October 31, 2017

. @SophieFaldo CONGRATULATIONS ❤️ so proud of you. So, so deserved!@SpongeCakeSqTin @Katie_Lyon_ you are both incredible! #whatnext #GBBO

— Tom Hetherington (@TomEatsCake) October 31, 2017

Congratulations @SophieFaldo ! That entremet was out of this world! So well deserved 🤗 so proud of you! You are truly amazing #GBBOFinal 🌟🌟🌟❤❤❤

— Julia Chernogorova (@JChernogorova) October 31, 2017

Well done @SophieFaldo 💗 https://t.co/ZS9SN4hkcy

— Flo atkins (@flo_atkins17) October 31, 2017

For some viewers, it was the least surprising ‘Bake Off’ result ever, after judge Prue Leith accidentally tweeted the result 12 hours ahead of Tuesday night’s pre-recorded final.

OMG PRUE! No baby no! RT @PrueLeith
No one told me judging a #gbbo final would be so emotional. I wanted them all to win. Bravo Sophie.

— Dan Wootton (@danwootton) October 31, 2017

The chef and food writer hastily deleted the premature tweet, but the damage had already been done.

She later took to Twitter again to apologise to fans for spoiling the result, admitting she was “mortified”.

I am so sorry to the fans of the show for my mistake this morning, I am in a different time zone and mortified by my error #GBBO.

— Prue Leith (@PrueLeith) October 31, 2017

Former Army Officer Sophie had been the dark horse of this year’s competition with a consistent stream of solid bakes, always delivered without barely breaking a sweat.

However, even she admitted that sometimes things did get a bit much in that tent.

“Walking into that tent first time is so much harder than training to be a stuntwoman,” she said at the start of the series. “There is just so much pressure baking in the tent.”

Channel 4

Just one day before the final aired, Sophie was forced to deny claims she failed to report a change in her living circumstances to the Department Of Work And Pensions.

The trainee stuntwoman had been accused of claiming a single person’s living allowance, while cohabiting with her boyfriend, chef David Slattery.

A ‘GBBO’ spokesperson defended the baker, saying: “Sophie has recently declared a change in her circumstances to the DWP.

“A meeting to reassess her situation, scheduled for last Friday, was postponed by her local jobcentre until next week.

“Any suggestion of benefit fraud relating to Sophie is ­categorically untrue.”

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