UNDERDOG David Atherton has tonight been crowned winner of the Great British Bake Off — even though he was never named star baker throughout the contest.
This evening's final was an emotional roller-coaster which saw bookies' favourite Steph Blackwell suffer a disastrous night and end up in tears.
They were joined in the grand finale by Alice Fevronia – who was also tipped to be crowned champion baker.
He is the first person to win Bake Off without winning star baker since it was introduced in series two.
Even this morning David was still being offered odds of just 4/1 by the bookies.
David, 36, a health advisor from Whitby, North Yorks, believes he triumphed because he didn’t peak too soon or let the tension in the tent get to him.
He said: “I saved the best till last — and it’s the best feeling in the world. Week on week other people were stronger, I was always the underdog and yet I just managed to get through.
“I think I just didn’t get stressed at the pressure. I really enjoyed every episode in the tent and I never felt that I was flaky throughout the whole series, although I did feel very nervous at the final.
“But honestly it was never in my mind that I could win this, though I have had daydreams of winning Bake Off for about ten years.
“I didn’t imagine for one micro second that I would get to the final, let alone win it. It’s just unreal.”
Shop assistant Steph, 28, from Chester, was the favourite to win the contest having been named star baker four times during the ten-week contest.
Second favourite was teacher Alice, 28, from Essex, who was twice named star baker.
The final saw the trio asked to create a chocolate cake, stilton souffles and a “illusion” picnic basket using cake, sweet bread and biscuits.
Judge Paul Hollywood said: “David came in as probably the underdog into the final – he has gone from nothing to win the whole thing. It’s priceless.”
Fellow judge Prue Leith added: “ It was really a question of the tortoise catching the hare – he just steadily went on and won.”
Fellow finalist Alice said: “David just blew us out of the water – the best baker won.”
Despite being a firm favourite to win the whole thing, Steph somehow managed to miss out on victory.
It was an emotional night for the pint-sized baker, who ended up in tears after one disaster after another.
Unfortunately she just couldn't keep her cool on the big day and she had horror after horror with her baking attempts.
It was sad for all to see and resulted in Steph even getting a hug from Paul Hollywood after he judged her disappointing Showstopper.
The Technical challenge was another beast for our bakers and poor Steph struggled to make something even resembling a double-baked Stilton souffle.
Though she persevered and carried on baking through her tears, the bookies favourite came in last.
While Alice managed to make a decent, it was David who stepped up the most and got top marks for the challenge.
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