Meet Rowan, GBBO contestant and music teacher
Rowan makes up our Baker's Dozen.
Get ready to see this year's Great British Bake Off contestants mixing it up and kneading their way into the hearts of The Great British Bake off judges Prue Leith and Paul Hollywood.
The 11th series is on its way to Channel 4, and the complete line-up has now been announced.
One of this year's hopefuls is Rowan - a 55-year-old music teacher from Worcestershire.
Entirely self-taught, Rowan calls his baking style "ostentatious" - but how will the judges find his bakes?
Here's everything you need to know about him.
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Who is GBBO contestant Rowan?
Name: Rowan
Age: 55
Where's Rowan from? Worcestershire
What jobs does Rowan do? Music teacher
Rowan lives in in Worcestershire with his partner, who shares his passion for music, the arts and theatre.
He can often be found in the British Library researching all things 1700s.
A fitness enthusiast, Rowan swims a mile most mornings and is a keen cyclist and occasional horse-rider, but, when he's not busy teaching music or keeping fit, he can be found baking up a storm in the kitchen.
Rowan's baking style is more on the flamboyant side. French patisserie is his absolute passion – he loves the subtlety of flavour, and the style and sophistication of French baking, and he is drawn to fine, complex, layered cakes.
His love of the Georgian era encourages him to reinvent 18th-century recipes whenever he can. He enjoys decorating his bakes with flowers, preferably edible ones, using what is in bloom in his garden.
What's Rowan's strengths and weaknesses? "My strengths are ambition in ideas and design. My weakness is over-ambition and no interest in timings!"
What has Rowan said about joining The Great British Bake Off?
Speaking of his Bake Off signing, he said: "It was very exciting and seemed unreal after all the uncertainty and the vast amount of preparatory work."
Rowan was relieved once he finally entered the Bake Off tent, and felt immediate "joy" and "satisfaction" of working alongside the other bakers.
This year, the contestants were made to isolate as the producers had to make many behind-the-scenes changes to the show in order to get Bake Off back on air during the pandemic.
So who would Rowan choose, if given the chance to "bubble with" any previous contestant?
"Dame Edna Everage. Because like me, she has a talent for snatching disaster from the jaws of success. Her appearance on GBBO was the funniest thing I have EVER seen!" he laughed.
We couldn't agree more, Rowan!
When is GBBO back?
The show will return for an 11th series on September 22nd at 8pm.
Bake Off announced the news on their official Twitter page.
Alongside a picture of the 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!”
Production for the new series was almost put on hold after someone on set began to show potential symptoms of coronavirus.
Speaking in an issue of Radio Times Magazine, Love Creative producer Kieran Smith said: “Somebody spoke to our medical team because they were showing symptoms that could have been COVID.”
Thankfully, it was just a false alarm and it won't be long now before fans heart those famous words: “On your marks, Get set…. BAKE!”
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.
