More than 15 million people watched you win Great British Bake Off last year. How has your life changed since then?
Wow, it’s changed quite a bit! I’ve been to the most amazing events, I’ve met the most amazing people. Every single day, I’m shocked at what I’ve been given the opportunity to do. And I wrote a cookbook. So I get to share a bit of my weird, crazy life and thought processes with people and I think that’s what the book is. It’s my voice, my little quips, my stories and my family, my ideas and the way I say things and the way I do things.
There were pictures on your social media recently of you with Ed Sheeran and Amy Schumer.
Ha ha! So Ed Sheeran. I was working in Cannes – I mean that in itself is just crazy. And it was almost a year to the day of the Bake Off final, so that I was like: “A year ago, I was sobbing my eyes out in the tent and now I’m doing an afternoon tea in Cannes, watching Ed Sheeran perform in front of 300 other people.” So we had a little chat and I asked him to do a video for [fellow Bake Off contestant] Val, because she loves him.
Did Amy Schumer have any idea who you were?
OK, so here’s another one of those things that I don’t think I’d often say: I was in the Ivy celebrating my book and Amy Schumer came over and tapped me on the shoulder. She said: “Candice, I’m so sorry…” And I thought, oh God, she’s going to ask me to get off her jacket – I was stood on it – or she’s going to ask me where the toilet is. And she said: “I’m a massive fan. Can I have a picture with you?” And I went: “Pardon?” I actually said to her: “Are you joking?”
Paul Hollywood told the Observer last year that Bake Off hasn’t been entirely innocent since the first series. Everyone in the tent is ambitious. Would you agree with that?
Um, there was never any part of me that thought: I could win that, not a problem. I could do that well better. Going into the tent I was like, oh my gosh, I’m going to get found out. They’re so much better than me. So when it did go wrong, when I did throw a wobbler, it was because I was embarrassed. I felt: see, I knew this was silly. I’ve made myself look stupid. But as the weeks went on, every week took me by surprise when I could do things. And when I look back on the final, I said: “I did it, I am good!” I still can’t watch that without getting emotional – I feel myself getting emotional now. Yeah, it’s one hell of a feeling.
Did you expect there to be such a fuss about your lipstick choice?
Oh God, no, because it was just me. I think it’s another confidence thing: if I’m feeling tired or a bit rubbish, I’ll whack on a pair of heels and a bit of lipstick and I feel better. That was always like a suit of armour going into that tent. Right: I’ve got my makeup on, I’ve got my lippy on, good concealer – the concealer needs to be good on Bake Off – and that’s just what I did. One of the things Mum said to me was: “Never underdress, always overdress.” And that’s something I live by.
Any plans for your own lipstick range?
People keep asking me about that. I mean I’d love to, I don’t know anything about it at the moment, but I’ll keep doing research – and by research, I mean buying new lipstick.
Before Bake Off, you worked in a school teaching PE?
Actually, I was in the special needs department. It was quite intense; well, very intense.
Did you feel conflicted about leaving your job?
Completely. I was trying to do both; I went back to work after the final and I worked after the final had been aired until December. It was actually the headmaster who said: “I wouldn’t be doing my job properly if I didn’t encourage my staff to follow aspirations and dreams and I need to show the kids it’s OK to do that.”
How did you set out to make your cookbook different?
The book is me. It’s everything I love. Actually, I’m not a massive fan of cheesecake; that’s probably the only thing in there that I wouldn’t particularly make for myself, but I know everybody else likes cheesecake. It’s things my family love, recipes that my nan taught me, which I haven’t changed because they’re perfect and I don’t need to. I love things that integrate memories and nostalgia, which make you feel warm and cosy. And I hope I’ve got that, I think I’ve got that.
Do you feel any sadness that Bake Off’s gone to Channel 4?
No, because it’s still Bake Off, but you’ve just got a wee and tea break now. I can’t wait for the show to begin and to see who’s joining the Bake Off family.
Nadiya Hussain, the 2015 Bake Off winner, made the Queen’s 90th birthday cake. Who would you most like to make something for?
At the moment, it would be Adele, I adore her. We’re both from north London, Tottenham, we both support Tottenham and we both, as my boyfriend, Liam, says, have talking voices like fruit sellers. But obviously that’s where the similarities end because she has the singing voice of an angel and I don’t. She’s what everybody needs: she’s normal and funny and she feels what everybody feels, like [when she visited] Grenfell Tower, and that’s amazing and important.
What would you cook?
She loves chicken nuggets and so do I, so I’d make her chicken nuggets and pie, mash and liquor, and I think we could have a couple of glasses of rosé. And I’d make all the cakes she wants. She’s been ill recently so she probably needs some cake to make her feel better.
Comfort: Delicious Bakes & Family Treats (Ebury) by Candice Brown is out now
