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Daily Record
Entertainment
Rebecca Cook & Nicola Methven & Paul T Smith

Channel 4's Great British Bake Off winner announced as viewers blast judges over 'setting up' contestants

Syabira Yusoff was crowned the winner of the 13th series of Channel 4's Great British Bake Off on Tuesday night.

But many viewers were left less than impressed during the final episode with the judges being accused of 'setting up' the bakers in an 'unfair' final.

Judges Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith sung Malaysian-born Syabira's praises after a tense final saw the cardiovascular research associate go head to head with Abdul Rehman Sharif, 29, and Sandro Farmhouse, 30, in the white tent.

However, all three suffered setbacks, leaving Bake Off fans claiming they had been 'set up' in the dramatic series finale, writes The Mirror.

Describing the win as her “biggest achievement”, Syabira, 32, said: “I can’t believe it, honestly, it hasn’t sunk in yet. All the hard work, all the trial and error, it has all been worth it.”

Judge Paul Hollywood enthused: “Some of the flavours we have never had in the tent before and are unlikely to have again, she is an incredible baker.”

Fellow judge Prue Leith added: “She is creative and she is careful, she practises like anything, and she is imaginative, she just has the lot. She is a very skilful baker.”

Host Matt Lucas cheered on from the sidelines, while Noel Fielding was largely absent due to illness, as the finalists embarked on their last chance to impress the judges with their creations.

The final saw the remaining three contestants asked to assemble the perfect picnic for the signature challenge and create a summer classic for the technical.

The bakers were tasked with making a Summer Pudding Bombe for the technical section and both Syabira and Sandro saw theirs collapse after the jelly and mousse failed to set, because they had been asked to cook with vegetarian gelatin without any instructions.

The sneaky tactics used by the judges to put the bakers to the ultimate test saw viewers rage as they were accused of setting them up to fail.

Taking to Twitter, one wrote: “It’s like they are setting the bakers up for failure how are the bakes going to know you need to boil vegetable gelatin if you don’t put that in the instructions none of the bakers are vegan."

"Come now," a second wrote. "There's no way to know to boil that kind of gelatin, how would you? It's niche cooking knowledge that an amateur baker wouldn't know. Give a simple method, sure, but that's just setting them up to fail. Must do better GBBO."

Another added: "The GBBO technical challenge is basically: do you know how to use veggie gelatine? Absolute rubbish. Completely unfair."

Another fan concluded: "Bake Off loses its appeal when you feel that the bakers are being set up to fail at every turn."

In the final showstopper challenge, the bakers were then asked to make a celebration of the planet on their Bake Off stations, with Syabira's orangutan showstopper impressing.

Syabira, who lives in London with her boyfriend Bradley, said the win would change her life, adding: “I became more confident and trusted my instincts. There is only one way to know if you can do it – just do it!”

Syabira follows in the steps of Guiseppe Dell'Anno, Peter Sawkins, Rahul Mandal, Candice Brown and Nadiya Hussain, who won the show in previous years.

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