Great British Bake Off: Wiltshire man on this year's series

Mike Wilkins, 29, will be one of 12 vying to be crowned this year's champion. 

A fourth-generation farmer, Mike works both on the family farm Wilkins & Son and as a farm manager for CP Farming in Malmesbury.

He was shortlisted for Young Farmer of the Year at the 2024 National Arable and Grassland Awards.

He is an advocate for the LGBTQ+ farmers community – having been featured on the cover of Student Farmer magazine’s Farming with Pride edition – and was an ambassador for the National Farmers' Union in 2022.

Mike also attended the Royal Agricultural University and was president of the RAU Students' Union.

The Bake Off describes Mike’s baking style as homely and wholesome. 

“He likes making big, hearty bakes using high-quality local ingredients that can satisfy lots of people at parties and gatherings.”

Combining his talents in baking and farming, Mike specialises in using seasonal fruits and edible flowers he grows.

Mike announced his upcoming season on Instagram. 

“Never in a million years did I actually think that I would ever be writing this post," he said. 

"I have adored Bake Off for so many years.”

“Baking has always been such an important passion and an enormous joy for me.

"It is a happy place where I can go to when the rest of life is getting a little too much, even if that means baking a chocolate cake at 3am!”

Making it to the Bake Off also means Mike won a bet of sorts.

Mike had suggested to fiancé Matt two years ago that he could make their own wedding cake when they get married in 2025.

Matt said no because the couple is already planning to do everything for the wedding themselves, including Mike’s plan to grow all of their wedding flowers himself.

“However, our compromise was that the only circumstances under which I would bake our cake would be if by some miracle I went on Bake Off,” Mike wrote.

“Well, apparently miracles do happen.”