Val Stones has admitted she is "not a tent baker" after becoming the fifth contestant to exit The Great British Bake Off.
Eccentric 66-year-old retired headteacher Stones was a huge hit with viewers, inspiring headlines including "7 reasons why dancing Val who 'listens' to her cakes needs to win Bake Off", "Who is Val from Bake Off? Probably the greatest person that's ever been on your TV", and "9 reasons that Val Stones is our spirit animal".
Candice Brown was named star baker in Wednesday night's episode, but it was Stones who failed to master pastry week.
Speaking after her defeat, she said: "I am a reasonably good baker, but not a tent baker."
Stones won the public's support with her habit of "listening" to her cakes, her love of mid-baking aerobics and her "informal" heartfelt bakes including a Noah's ark bread which was so deformed that Paul Hollywood mistook a giraffe for a chicken.
The grandmother from Somerset said: "I always exercise even when I am making jam, you know you can get 4,000 steps done while making apricot jam."
She added: "I have been called eccentric but I feel that I have reached the age in my life when I can say what I like, and get away with it - nannas can get away with it. The bakers call me nanna Val."
Stones presented judges Mary Berry and Hollywood with the first "soggy bottom" of the series, coming second-last in the technical challenge with her Bakewell Tart.
"We had to wait a while for it, didn't we?" Berry joked.
The amateur baker also had a difference of opinion with the judges over her breakfast pastries after presenting pecan and maple syrup pin-wheels and apple and sultana topped cinnamon swirls which were labelled "underdone".
"I actually like them a little bit soft in the middle," the grandmother protested. "It's how our family like them."
Her fate was sealed when she did not get to the end of the showstopper challenge, leaving 12 amuse-bouches still in the oven as she ran out of time.
Stones was philosophical, explaining: "Of course I was disappointed but you have to just go with it. Somebody has got to have a soggy bottom, so it might as well be me."
She also admitted to enjoying her time in the tent with Hollywood.
"I had some lovely times with Paul as I was always a bit cheeky with him," she said.
Brown, a 31-year-old PE teacher from Bedford, created "delicious" Danish breakfast pastries in the signature challenge and came second in the technical.
But it was her showstopper which really blew the judges away, as she presented the judges with sausage meat, black pudding and apple amuse-bouches.
Hollywood gave her "10 out of 10" for presentation and called her flavours "spot on".
:: Val Stones will join Jo Brand on The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice on Friday September 23 at 9.30pm on BBC Two.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel