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Great British Bake Off finalist Laura Adlington says she is too busy to bake after a whirlwind year since being on the hit Channel 4 show.
The 32-year-old from Gravesend has ditched her apron since coming out of the famous white tent so she can promote plus size clothing.
After becoming an inspiration for larger women, Laura has been working with several well-known fashion brands including Simply Be, Joules, Monsoon and In the Style.
She said: “I feel so incredibly lucky for the opportunities I have had since doing Bake Off. It’s been a real whirlwind. It feels like it has been a natural evolution for me to go from baking to fashion and stuff around body image.
“Maybe it was just because I was sick of baking when I left the tent to be honest . But I have always loved fashion and I have always wanted to set up a plus sized fashion company or have my own range. So it has always been a passion of mine and over the last year I have been able to grow in confidence and really enjoyed doing it.
“I think if Covid has taught me anything I have been feeling very philosophical lately and just feeling like ‘you are a long time dead’ you only have one go at life, let’s not worry about what we look like. There are more important things. Just be happy with who you are if you can.”
A few weeks ago Laura, who now lives in Halling, quit her day job at South East Water to pursue fashion full-time and is hoping to launch her own clothing line.
She said: “I was working for a water company but, like I said, I have been feeling quite philosophical so it wasn’t really fulfilling me. So I thought, do you know what, I’m going to give this a go, even if it is just for six or 12 months.
“There’s a lot of people like influencers doing stuff online and I thought ‘why not me?’. I get so many messages from women saying it is so nice to see someone who is plus size being confident, rather than your typical Instagram model, so I thought I would pursue it for a bit and see what happens.
“The hope is at some point, I really can’t give too much away, but the hope is I will be designing my own range.”
Laura still loves to bake - her favourite go-to recipe is a carrot cake or a chocolate sponge - but she admits she hasn’t had much time to be in the kitchen lately.
“I’m too busy to bake” she joked. “But I do still really enjoy it. I have only been self-employed for a few weeks but I’m hoping now I will have a bit more time. I’ve been so busy doing other things but I do miss baking so I’m looking forward to getting back to it.”
She added: “My favourite thing to make is cake. I just love cake to be honest. You can’t go wrong with a big slab of comforting cake. I think I have mastered getting a really good sponge, which you would hope being a Bake Off finalist.”
Despite her hectic schedule, Laura was able to watch the first show of the new series of Bake Off last Tuesday.
She said: “It’s been surreal watching another series because it only feels like yesterday that we were there.
“I really enjoyed watching it. I know I shouldn't have a favourite because they all seem really lovely but I do really like Maggie, I think she stole the show. I also think Jurgen is one to watch and I also really like Lizzie. She is really down to earth. I think she said something about ‘precision isn’t my forte’ and that made me think she was a girl after my own heart.”
The bakers, like last year, formed a Covid ‘bubble’ so filming could go ahead. Laura, who has been married to Matt for three years, said this definitely made the contestants closer as they can’t go home to friends and family.
She recalls: “I remember Paul [Hollywood] saying when we were filming last year that he was surprised at how upset we all got when someone left because apparently that hadn’t always happened. I’m not saying previous years didn’t get on but I think because we were living together and filming together for such a long time you did form really close relationships.
“And also it was back when you couldn’t get toilet roll or flour. It was all still very scary. I’m a real home-bird, I love my family and I love being at home so you did rely on each other for support.”
Laura is still in touch with her Bake Off friends, Lottie particularly, and she says they are close. She added: “They are genuinely just a really lovely bunch of people.”
Her advice to those in the tent this year would be to try and enjoy it - and avoid Twitter.
She said: “I would say to them, don’t worry too much about what other people think of you. I think as well, some people are more competitive than others but you should just compete with yourself.
“I would also say to stay off Twitter. It is just not a very happy place. You go on Twitter and it is just like going down a rabbit hole so I would say there is just no point.”
Despite having to deal with online trolls, Laura says other messages from women she has inspired make it all worthwhile.
“I really don’t like to go on about the trolling and stuff because I’m really just kind of over it now. But obviously when you put yourself out there online, especially when you are bigger, you are open to a lot of negativity and people’s opinions of you.
“The [positive] comments I get and the messages genuinely mean so much to me. To be able to make people feel a bit more confident and happy in their skin, it inspires me and it empowers me to be able to keep doing what I’m doing.”
Laura admits she had a tough time a few years ago battling with mental health issues, when she “didn’t want to be here” and she turned to the Samaritans for help. Now she is a volunteer for the charity.
She explained: “I have always struggled with anxiety. I went through a really bad spell probably about three years ago and I was thinking ‘I don’t want to be here any more’. So I have used the Samaritans and, it sounds really cheesy but I wanted to give back.
“It is really humbling doing it and it can be very rewarding. It can be very full on and stressful and heartbreaking and all of those things but it is amazing.”
