After winning The Great British Bake Off, you would have expected John Whaite to spend the rest of his life baking.
John was only 23 when he was impressing Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood in the tent in 2012 and stormed to victory with his Heaven and Hell show-stopper cake .
The Bake Off champ has gone from strength to strength ever since, taking classes at the esteemed culinary school, Le Cordon Bleu.
He opened his very own cookery school in Lancashire to impart his baking knowledge onto students and has stayed in the showbiz spotlight.
John wrote for The Telegraph and regularly providing tasty treats for Lorraine Kelly on her show as resident chef, making over 47 TV appearances on show's such as This Morning, Steph’s Packed Lunch and Sunday Brunch.
John has also released five cookbooks, including the top sellers John Whaite Bakes, John Whaite Bakes At Home and Perfect Plates In Five Ingredients.
However, he announced he was making a very surprising career change back in 2018.
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John, who is one of the favourites to win this year's Strictly Come Dancing, revealed he was studying for a law degree.
Explaining his decision, John tweeted: "Many of you ask why I’m going back to a career in law. I care about access to justice. I want to devote myself to the untangling of families and to child welfare.
"When I graduated I didn’t have confidence or calmness to be a barrister. But after years of TV and live shows, I’m ready."
He did let fans know he would continue to write about food and continue teaching classes at his cookery school in Lancashire.
"I’ve loved my career since #GBBO and you’ve been an indispensable network of friends, but I need to devote myself to something utterly important," he told fans.
In the years since winning Bake Off, John has bravely opened up on his experiences, admitting the show "derailed" him and he regretted taking part.
Writing in The Telegraph, he said: "Some days I'd wish I had never been on the show, because in reality, it totally derailed me from a steady lifepath."
He admitted drinking heavily and becoming depressed when work dried up after the show.
And in 2019, John told his fans he was stepping away from social media while suffering from a "severe bout of depression".
He had been open in the past about his long-term struggles with mental health.
*Strictly Come Dancing airs tonight on BBC One at 6.55pm
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