Great British Bake Off contestant James Morton has apologised for his performance in the final.

James, who is the son of Scottish broadcaster, writer and musician Tom Morton, missed out on the Great British Bake Off title after losing to law student John Whaite (23) in the series final.

The 21-year-old Glasgow University medical student won the final’s fondant fancies technical challenge, however, his puff pastry pithivier and showstopping, United Kingdom chiffon cakes failed to impress judges Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood.

After the show James, who had received hundreds of messages of support in the run-up to the final, tweeted: “Dear everyone, I am so, so sorry for letting you down. Thank you for the support. Sincerely, James.”

He also tweeted: “Well done John!!! Best on the day.”

However, judge Paul Hollywood says James should be very proud of his performance.

Paul tweeted: “@bakingjames you’ve done unbelievably well.”

James, who faced John (23) and Brendan Lynch (63) in the final, had won the title of star baker three times during the 10 week series and had been tipped to take the title by Whaite.

However, in the final, the judges said his showstopping political chiffon cake, which he had claimed would ‘divide Scotland’, was too dry and his pithivier had a ‘soggy bottom’.

James began baking with his gran when he was a youngster and will be fondly remembered for his Fair Isle jumpers and his experimental approach to baking.

However, the proud Shetlander, from Hillswick, has hinted that the show may not be the end for him.

He tweeted: “#GBBO is over. But it has just begun!”

The BBC2 show, which is presented by Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins, drew its highest average audience yet of 6.5 million, and at its peak 7.2 million were watching the hit show.

The semi-final was watched by 5.6million viewers last week, more than Holby City on BBC1.

Newly crowned champion John now hopes to swap his law books for a career as a pastry chef.

After winning the series he tweeted: “Thank you so much everyone! I’m still in complete shock, but you’ve all made these 10 weeks such fun!

“It was an honour to be in the final with @bakingjames and @brendanbakes! Those boys are revolutionary!”