Quotes from John Whaite

Read a recipe twice, weigh all the ingredients out before you start so that you don't forget something and start with a clean kitchen.

Life shouldn't be about arbitrary power, for power's sake, but about respect, mutuality, decency.

Baking helps lift my depression. It can't cure it but it helps.

My dance skills are reliant on me being a bit pickled in a nightclub, if I try to do a dance move sober it doesn't go very well, but I used to do ballet and tap so I have to be shown what do, so if I watch things I pick things up quite quickly.

Between the ages of 10-14, I did ballet, modern and tap. So I may have a few dancing bones in my body, but I'm not necessarily very good rhythmically.

I am an avid lover of taking photographs of the night sky. Whenever I can, I get myself off to Canada or to Scotland and set up around the lake and spend a few hours in the middle of the night with a flask of coffee, a little glass of whiskey and some snacks.

My body image as I grew up was very difficult... I was so conscious of being fat. But one thing I was aware of as being problematic for 12, 14 years was overeating and then purging.

There's little in life so disappointing as a sunken cake.

I'm a carboholic, so I'm always keen to get my teeth around a ribbon of al dente tagliatelle.

I definitely want to bake professionally, but as a home baker I am going to need training.

I mean, you don't go into 'Bake Off' expecting anything. There's no big-money prize, no contract. It's not like 'The X Factor,' where you're promised the Earth. In a way, it's a big gamble. If you're in an ordinary job - and will have to go back to an ordinary job - it's a risk. Your bosses might not like what they see of you on TV and fire you!

As a farmer's son, I am familiar with the long, mucky shifts of our dairy workers.

I had been offered a six-figure deal to write two cookery books. Six figures, at just 23.

I was a 23-year-old law student when I won the 'Great British Bake Off' in 2012. For 10 weeks I had balanced my degree finals with the tension and scrutiny inside the white tent (not to mention a few nights out here and there).

If you're baking full-time, you need to hit the gym 24/7.

I have to disagree with William Shakespeare: love doesn't look with the mind. For me, and most of those around me, love looks with the tummy.

A cake overpopulated with air is due to either too much chemical raising agent, an over zealous whisker, or a yeasted dough/batter that has had too long a rising stage.

I really want to learn a really intense samba and really go for it.

I was wearing glitter in the womb.

When you're panicking you make rash decisions.

The problem with a lot of modern recipes is that you have a great list of ingredients and you only need a tiny bit of each one so the rest perishes in the fridge.

There's something very relaxing about the aromatic scent of rosemary. I adore it.

People think bakers are dainty little housewives but they are not. They are quite controlling people who want to be told that they are loved.

How could anyone not use the humble chestnut at Christmas? It has a great flavour and can be used to make chocolate cake more festive.