Dan Beasley Harling: “I know from experience the second you doubt yourself on Bake Off is when you crumble – James won because he remained unflustered.”
“James had one of the best attitudes and performances of any celebrity I’ve ever seen in the tent. He was by far the best baker in all three rounds and demolished the competition.
“I know James downplayed it, he said he was used to winging things – but he seemed the kind of person who goes into everything trying to do the very best he can and that was reflected in his baking. I’d have been proud to have made the things he did, especially the signature tart which sounded amazing – I want to steal the recipe and claim I came up with it first!
“He has experience of being confident and walking into new situations. The self-confidence he has from being a wildly successful A-lister actually showed in the way he approached the baking. Your personality is reflected in your baking a lot – and the one thing I learnt from being in the tent is the second you doubt yourself, that’s when you crumble, it all goes wrong and you start making mistakes. James didn’t doubt himself and therefore he didn’t go wrong.
“The key difference and the reason he succeeded was that while he did make mistakes, he didn’t let it fluster him. He kept moving forward and being confident and it paid off. I know from being on regular Bake Off that the person that goes home is the one who every week struggles mentally the most. Those who do really well are usually the ones who stay calm for the longest and keep a level head. The second your head goes, you fall by the wayside.”
Dan Beasley Harling: “James McAvoy’s meticulousness was something I’ve never seen in an amateur baker – he turned method baker from method actor.”
“It was so impressive, almost like he treated the tent as one of his method acting roles by immersing himself into the character of a calm, focused professional baker.
“His snow leopard cake was amazing, but it actually looked better once it collapsed. Before it looked a bit soulless, but the unintentional toppling made it look cute – there was probably a little too much buttercream frosting, but it worked for the look. Everything James touched turned to gold, even when he didn’t mean it to! Sometimes in the tent luck is on your side, and James deservedly won all three challenges.
“Making meringue is something you can easily get wrong – so the fact he did it so well tells me he cared enough to pay attention to the detail. The way he had it standing up nice and proud takes some skill and meticulousness which is rarely seen in an amateur or inexperienced baker.
“I’m not so sure he only practiced it twice as he said though, I think perhaps he was holed up in lockdown while the film sets were shut perfecting it over and over again and getting his bake on – or at least he had some advice. Because that seemed like more than beginner’s luck to me.”
Dan Beasley Harling: “James’ hilarious impression of Paul was uncanny – that hands-in-pockets pose was so off-putting when I was on the show.”
“His impression of Paul Hollywood was uncanny, it was dead on. All Paul does when you’re baking and the cameras are rolling is walk around, stand there and stare at you with his hands in his pockets. He hardly says anything when he does it, just sits back on his haunches and stares through you, it’s kind of off-putting when you’re up against it for time with a million things to do. James nailed it, it was genius.
“James definitely knew how to please a crowd, he’d fit in perfectly on the regular Bake Off given his love of an innuendo and knowing look to camera, laying some traps for the editors!”
Dan Beasley Harling: “I would have loved to have seen Dame Kelly Holmes win the show – she would have made her mother so proud.”
“I would have loved to have seen Dame Kelly win because of her touching personal story. Kelly has this aura of being really strong, but she came across as quite vulnerable in an endearing way. There was a lot of self-doubt in the tent which I was not expecting even though she was inexperienced – but she would have made her so mother proud for sure, and it would have meant so much to her.”
Dan Beasley Harling: “Anne-Marie had a wonderful combination of competitiveness, shadiness, ditsiness and chaos!”
“Anne-Marie was hilarious, she cracked me up with her shadiness – a wonderful combination of being competitive, but also really cunning, ditsy, funny and chaotic at the same time. I also couldn’t believe she didn’t know that butter was made using cream – maybe I thought that as a baker it was obvious. I wanted her to succeed but she came unstuck when she doubted herself.”
Dan Beasley Harling: “The reason David Baddiel’s flavours were so on point was because he didn’t try too hard to reinvent the wheel.”
“I was impressed with David making things taste good despite having never baked – and the reason for that is because he didn’t try too hard and attempt to reinvent the wheel. When you try to be too clever is when you trip yourself up, which I’ve seen too many times in the tent. So perversely, his sloppy nature actually helped his flavours be so good.”
