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Who is Dan Beasley-Harling? Meet the Great British Bake Off 2018 contestant

Who is Dan Beasley-Harling? Meet the Great British Bake Off 2018 contestant

Meet the full-time dad and self-confessed perfectionist entering the GBBO tent

Radio Times Staff

Published: Tuesday, 9 October 2018 at 2:51 pm

Dan Beasley-Harling is one of the 12 contestants taking part in The Great British Bake Off in 2018.

The full-time dad is a self-confessed perfectionist, striving to make each cake not only taste great, but a feast for the eyes too. This means creating the likes of unicorn and My Little Pony cakes for his two children and husband.

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On his food blog, Dan says he is entirely self-taught and always on the lookout to improve old favourites. “I can think of no better way to relax and enjoy myself than spending an afternoon in my kitchen, creating something delicious and beautiful to share with my family,” he says.

After six years raising his children, Dan says he wants to do something for himself: “With my youngest starting school, I’m now ready to rejoin the world of adults.”

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This isn’t the first time he has tried out for the competition though, with Dan applying for the show in previous years. “I don’t think anyone will be surprised that I’m on Bake Off!” he says.

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Although he may face some challenges when it comes to time-keeping in the tent, admitting he will "often work on bakes over the course of several days. I never work to strict time constraints like those in the tent, so that was a real challenge for me."

Although he "loved not having to wash up!"

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Dan's Bake Off journey

Sadly, Pastry Week marked the end of Dan's Bake Off journey as, even after all the handshakes in previous weeks, he suffered a disastrous series of events in the tent.

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Spice Week was a bit of a trial for Dan, whose ginger cake mixture turned into cheese (?!) leading to the baker having a minor meltdown. But he managed to turn his luck around with a beautiful spiced biscuit chandelier, as you do.

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Dan had a rather eventful Biscuit Week. His lemon and strawberry Shrewsbury biscuits received mixed reviews from Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith. "They are quite pale-looking," said Paul, who added that although the flavours were great, the texture was not.

And he placed an impressive 4th out of 12 in the Wagon Wheel technical challenge.

And then finally, for the last round, he created a rather interesting self-portrait during the Showstopper.

Great British Bake Off Dan's biscuit portrait in week 1

Great British Bake Off Dan's biscuit portrait in week 1 (C4)

The image was supposed to be of himself carrying a baby, and instead it resembled, well... Paul thought it looked like a prawn. Enough said.

Dan is getting very well acquainted with Paul's palms, having received a Hollywood handshake in both Cake Week AND Biscuit Week...

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After all the shaking of the hands, it was about time Dan was crowned Star Baker - and he finally received the honour in Dessert Week.

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Dan Beasley-Harling: Key facts

Age: 36

From: London

Job: full-time Dad

Instagram: @danbeasleyharling

Twitter: @DBeasleyHarling

The Great British Bake Off airs Tuesdays on Channel 4 at 8pm

Authors

Radio Times Staff

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