Bake Off winner Candice quits school to follow baking dream

The 31-year-old, who lives in Bedford, has now made the difficult decision to put her job on hold after eight years of teaching.

Candice specialised in working with pupils with special needs and went back to Ashlyns school after shooting to fame.

The Bake Off winner planned to work until Christmas but had her final day at the school on Friday, after deciding it was the right time to focus on her baking.

“This has been such an agonising decision to make,” she said. “I have been teaching for about eight years now and I love it.

“But since winning the final, I have also been completely bowled over by the amazing opportunities that I have been offered.”

Candice, who is currently weighing up her options, paid tribute to the school and in particular headteacher James Shapland for encouraging her to take the plunge.

“They were so incredible and told me I had to grab everything whilst I could,” she said.

“My headteacher told me ‘You’ve got to do this, you can’t do it half-heartedly, I wouldn’t forgive myself if you missed out.’

“He said ‘It’s not that we don’t want you here but you have to give it 100 per cent.

“‘If we can’t encourage our staff to follow their dreams and inspire, then we are not doing our job properly.

“‘You are showing the kids that anything is possible.’

“It was so incredibly lovely of him.”