Dorset's Bake Off contestant tells us 'I don't want to let Dorset down'
Maggie from Poole is the show's first contestant from Dorset in the 11 years it's been running
After eleven years, Dorset's finally got its first contestant in Channel 4's Great British Bake Off.
Maggie from Poole is a retired midwife who says she doesn't want to let Dorset down.
She's a self-confessed 'necessity baker', someone who bakes when they need to. But Maggie says Bake Off pushed her to try things she never thought she could.
Maggie was raised by Irish farmers but has spent most of her life here in Dorset. She was urged by a friend to apply during the lockdown last year.
She admitted: "I said 'No, no, no, no. I can't possibly do that' and she said 'oh, we're bored, it's lockdown, just do it' and I'm so glad I did.
"I feel very honoured. I hadn't actually realised I was the first baker from Dorset. I don't want to let Dorset down, but it's a great privilege, a great honour and I hope I'll be able to take something forward for Dorset."
When asked Maggie gave inconclusive answers as to whether or not a Dorset knob or Dorset apple cake would be appearing in this year's competition, but she did say her similarity to Prue Leith was a real amusement on set.
She added:
"I've been baking since I was very, very young. It started off, the parents of my mother were farmers in Ireland and of course all the kitchen staff used to make bread every morning and I'm quite sure they just gave me a piece of dough to just go into a corner to knead it to get rid of me to just get me to stop chatting to them.
"It's just such good fun. I would recommend anybody to enter Bake Off. You do need to know quite a lot about baking but all the staff are so familiar with the environment.
"They do absolutely everything to make you comfortable, to make it fun, to make it just a super, super experience."
You can watch Maggie on the Bake Off tonight on Channel 4 at 8pm.