Meet Sura, GBBO contestant and accounting student
Growing up, food was given as a way to show love in Sura's family.
Judging by the trailer for this year's Great British Bake Off, it looks like its going to be an interesting year!
Not only has new host Matt Lucas be joined as he takes over from Sandi Toksvig, but the Great British Bake Off contestants have now been confirmed.
One of the amateur bakers flouring her surface and mixing it up for the 11th series is Sura - a pharmacy dispenser from London.
Food plays a very special part in Sura's life as it was offered as a means to show affection, love and respect when she was growing up.
She's therefore hoping to win over the judges with her passion for cooking and baking.
But will it be enough to get her enough Hollywood Handshakes to take her through to the finals?
Here's everything you need to know about her.
Who is GBBO contestant Sura?
- Name: Sura
- Age: 31
- Where's Sura from? London
- What jobs does Sura do? Pharmacy dispenser
Growing up, food was offered in a loving way within Sura's family.
The many Middle Eastern and Asian influences in her heritage – including Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Syria and India – mean she enjoys experimenting with ingredients and flavours from all over the world.
A bit of a rebel in the kitchen, Sura isn't one to stick to a recipe. Instead she likes to improvise and inject her bakes with as much personality as possible.
She loves to work with fragrant and floral flavours such as cardamom, rose and orange blossom.
She now lives in London with her husband and elderly grandmother. And when she’s not baking or working, she can be found indulging her passions for travel, architecture and design.
What are Sura's strengths and weaknesses? My strengths lie in flavour and balancing of flavours and also making small and dainty bakes - but my weakness is large multi-tiered cakes.
What has Sura said about joining The Great British Bake Off?
"I was so excited to get into the tent," she said.
"I was looking forward to meeting Prue the most. I have watched her for many years on TV and I just loved her passion for food and flavours and her immense knowledge on it all. She inspired a lot of my baking in my early 20s."
Recalling her fondest memories during the first week of filming, she added: "Meeting the other bakers and bonding with them."
This year, the contestants and crew were made to isolate as the show made multiple behind-the-scenes changes for the show to go ahead in the pandemic.
When asked who she'd choose to "bubble with" out of the previous contestants if given the chance, Sura gushed: "Nancy because she’s my favourite baker of all time - she has such a wealth of baking knowledge and such a good kind energy."
When is GBBO back?
The series will return to Channel 4 for an 11th series on September 22nd at 8pm.
The news was announced on the official Great British Bake Off Twitter page.
Alongside an image of the show's hosts and judges, they wrote: “Put a little love in your tart. Join us on Tuesday 22nd September for the return of The Great British Bake Off!”
The series almost didn't happen however, after someone on set began to show potential symptoms of the virus and had to be tested.
Speaking in an issue of Radio Times Magazine, Creative Director at Love Productions Kieran Smith revealed: "“Somebody spoke to our medical team because they were showing symptoms that could have been COVID.”
The Great British Bake Off starts on Channel 4 on September 22nd at 8pm. To keep up to date with the latest Bake Off news, see here. If you’re looking for more to watch, check out our TV guide.
