Bake Off star shares her experiences from the show

Norfolk's very-own Bake Off star Kate Barmby has shared her experiences of being on the hit TV show during a visit to the Evening News offices.

The 37-year-old made it through to week four of the competition, but was sent home after failing to impress judges with her batter-based creations.

Mrs Barmby said Mary Berry, who announced yesterday that she would be leaving the show, was one of the reasons she applied to take part in the show.

And she described judge Paul Hollywood as 'terrifyingly lovely'.

The Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital nurse, from Brooke, near Norwich, said: 'She [Mary Berry] was a huge part of my experience this year, she was fantastic. I have grown up using her cookbooks and so she is part of the reason I learnted to bake.'

She also praised hosts Mel and Sue, who announced they would be leaving the show when it moves to Channel 4 next year.

'Again, they were a huge part in the reason why I applied and they were so friendly,' Mrs Barmby said. 'It can get quite intense in that tent cooking and they helped dissipate that.'

She described her time on the show as 'phenomenal' and said it was fantastic to be one of the 12 contestants.

But she said keeping her time on the show as a secret was one of the most difficult parts.

'I am an inherently honest person and the biggest thing for me has been keeping it secret and that has been really tough, because people could see I was looking a bit tired and I was missing from work on occasions,' she explained. 'So people were conscious I had not been myself and would ask if I was all right, and I just wanted to tell them I was doing something wonderful and to stop worrying.'

When asked if she would give up nursing for baking, she said: 'It would take an awful lot for me to give up nursing. I don't think I would.'

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