Millions of TV viewers welcomed the return of Great British Bake Off this week - which included mild-mannered Maidstone hopeful Tom Fletcher.

Sadly the software engineer’s time in the tent was short lived as he was the first to be culled from Channel 4’s culinary contest.

But despite being the first to leave, Tom said being on the was was ‘an experience I won’t forget’.

The 28-year-old, nicknamed the Midnight Baker, also works at his family’s business Dream Steam Model Railways in Aylesford.

He was one of 12 bakers selected for this year’s series, hosted by Matt Lucas and Noel Fielding.

But Tom’s black forest mini rolls failed to impress judges Dame Prue Leith and Paul Hollywood in Cake Week - and his ‘anti-gravity’ showstopper flopped.

He also came fifth in the technical task to make a malt loaf.

Tom says while he is sad to leave, this is not the last we will see of his creations.

He added: “In the first challenge I literally ended up flinging mini rolls coated in liquid chocolate onto a cake stand with five minutes to go and at least three cameras pointed at me.

“It was at that point I wondered, ‘What have I signed myself up for?’

“My Showstopper was a bit of a disaster.

“I wanted something that would celebrate my love of classical music, so I made a three tiered lemon and almond sponge cake of a concert hall.

“The judges said that for an anti-gravity cake it didn’t really defy the laws of gravity.

“Otherwise on a positive note, singing a duet with Matt Lucas while fretting over my showstopper will definitely remain one of the most surreal moments of my life.

“I know it’s hard to go out first and it was short and sweet, but it truly was an experience that I won’t forget.”

Tom sat down to watch Tuesday night’s show with his mum and dad, sister and brother-in-law and his nephew, some of whom he works with at the family business in Quarry Wood Industrial Estate.

Tom said: “It was very touching how they were all incredibly supportive when I was practising my bakes and when I went into the tent they didn’t take my tent time out of my annual leave.”

After gaining confidence on the show, Tom says his next bucket list adventure will see him running a marathon in the near future.

He is also hoping to put on a production with his local amateur dramatic group early next year, adding: “The group has a family feel about it and most of us have been in it for 10 years, and it’s great to get the energy from entertaining people.

“I am also in a rock choir group and we perform songs from the 70s to the present day, it’s all local in Maidstone.”

Although Tom remembers he was the only boy at Ditton Junior School in his cookery club, he found his passion four years ago when he made his dad a sticky toffee pudding cake.

Now he bakes several times a week and his mum describes him as the ‘Midnight Baker’ as before he moved out of the family home, she would often wake up to a sweet treat and a pile of washing up.

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