Yorkshireman Dan Chambers says Bake Off 'wasn't a piece of cake' as he's first to leave

Support worker Dan Chambers, 33, from Rotherham, was axed at the end of the first episode of the new series after serving up a raw fruit cake to judges Prue Leith and Paul Hollywood.

-> Great British Bake Off 2019 - all you need to know including the Yorkshire linksChannel 4 today said that the extended series launch won an average overnight audience of 5.7m viewers - a share of 30.6 per cent - a higher last year's first outing. It peaked with an audience of 6.6m.

Afterwards Dan said: "I love fruit cake and it hasn't put me off making one, but next time I won't make it in three hours.

"I love the long process of making a Christmas cake and I feed it over the weeks and it always turns out a beautiful cake. I get lots of compliments from the family at Christmas!"

He had better luck in the showstopper challenge, whipping up a pirate island cake complete with dry ice waterfall as the birthday cake of his childhood dreams, but he knew his fate was already sealed.

-> Yorkshire-backed Peaky Blinders enjoys record series openerUnfortunately he was unable to in the footsteps of 2018 champ Rahul Mandal, also from Rotherham.

Last year's runner-up Kim-Joy Hewlett, of Leeds, remarked on how difficult the first technical challenge had been.

She said on Twitter: "Angel cake for the first technical?! That is HARD! I'd be all over the place."

Dan added: "It's the nature of the show when something goes wrong on that particular week, you've had it, and I understand how the show works and I felt it was the right decision that I should go.

"My best moment overall was meeting the other bakers, and that was one of the reasons I was sad to leave.

"I knew I was going to miss talking to people that felt like I did about baking, and we bonded instantly. It was very strange but very lovely at the same time.

"My worst moment was the signature (challenge) for me, so I knew my showstopper had to totally wow to save me, and that was a lot of pressure.

"When I heard that the judging wasn't amazing, I really knew I was going, so I was prepared for it when they announced it.

The first episode saw print shop administrator Michelle, 35, named star baker after whipping up a carrot cake so good that Leith asked for the recipe.

After sampling the cake, Leith said: "This is the 10th anniversary of The Great British Bake Off and what a way to start!"

This year's line-up is the youngest on average of any since the show started.Dan will join Jo Brand and Tom Allen on The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice on Friday on Channel 4 at 8pm.