Bake Off winner Candice Brown describes past year as ‘hardest of her life’ after marriage split

CAKE queen Candice Brown has spoken for the first time about her torment in the wake of splitting from her husband.

Candice, who won TV’s Great British Bake Off in 2016, said: “I had a very difficult year last year — the hardest of my life.

“How the f*** I’m still going, I don’t know. But it was just a lot to take in, a lot to deal with.”

In July, it was revealed that Candice, 36, and tree surgeon Liam Macaulay had ­ separated after less than two years of marriage.

He moved out of their flat above her pub, the Green Man in ­Eversholt, Beds.

Now, former PE teacher Candice has opened up about her mental health struggles — telling how lockdown and having to close her pub has taken its toll.

She told The Burn Chef Journal podcast: “Mental health is something I’ve always struggled with.

“I also got diagnosed with ADHD, hence the disorganisation and forgetfulness.”

She revealed: “On the days we were shut and towards the end of the year I said, ‘I don’t know if I can do this on my own if lockdown happens again.

“I just can’t do it. I need to be on the go all the time and that silence and darkness on top of a brain that can be quite dark anyway was a lot.”

Liam, 33, has told how a kiss between Candice and Bake Off judge Paul Hollywood, 55, in 2017 put pressure on their relationship.

He said: “I’d not long asked Candice to marry me and I had to read reports that my new fiancée was seen kissing Hollywood.”

Months later, she was seen on dating app Raya.