Great British Bake Off champion Rahul Mandal reveals how baking saved him from his ‘loneliness’ at university
The 30-year-old admitted he "didn't really see anybody" at uni until he started baking for his peers
GREAT British Bake Off winner Rahul Mandal has revealed baking saved him from intense "loneliness" at university.
The research scientist won over viewers with his humble attitude on the show, but has now confessed it was the reason he struggled to make friends as a student.
Rahul is currently one of the most popular people on telly, having been crowned champion of the Channel 4 show by Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith last week.
However, in a new interview with the 30-year-old has admitted the fame is a far cry from what he's used to - having spent many years feeling lonely while at university.
He recalled: "I was very shy and introverted as a postgraduate student in Loughborough. I would go to my lab, sit on my own, it was a dark room, do my work and come home. I didn’t really see anybody."
Having moved to the UK from India, Rahul admitted he didn't know how to meet people, so decided to join the gardening society - where he discovered baking for the first time.
"They used to bring baking things and I realised that you could bake bread in your home rather than buying it from a supermarket," he explained.
He developed both a love and a talent for the skill and started baking for his peers, which he says made him feel more confident in himself.
He said: "Baking is all about science and the biggest way you can show someone how much you love them and care. If you bake for your wife, mother, daughter or girlfriend, they will be so pleased. Surprise them."
Rahul triumphed on the show from the very beginning, receiving high praise each week and the most handshakes of everyone from master baker Paul.
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He even overcame a disaster during the final, when a jar smashed all over his work space during the gruelling four-hour Showstopper.
He was given an extra 15 minutes to make up for the cleaning time, and managed to pull an incredible 200-element biscuit landscape out of the bag to secure his victory.
Gobsmacked by the win, Rahul admitted afterwards: “I never ever dreamed I would get into Bake Off, let alone win it."
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