Indian Engineer Wins “The Great British Bake Off 2018”

By Little India Desk | November 2, 2018

Rahul Mandal, an Indian-origin research scientist, who moved to the UK eight years ago, has won the ninth series of British baking competition “The Great British Bake Off 2018.”

The series began on Aug. 28, 2018, and with this win, Mandal, 30, becomes the first male winner since John Whaite in series 3.

 

The winner of The Great British Bake Off 2018 is… RAHUL! #GBBOFinal pic.twitter.com/Kv3eukTZJd

— British Bake Off (@BritishBakeOff) October 30, 2018

Mandal, who stays in Rotherham with an English couple, was stunned at the results and said “I never ever dreamed I would get into Bake Off, let alone win it. After winning, at home I wrapped the trophy in a pillowcase, and I am quite messy, so it looked hidden amongst the clothes and laundry in the linen cupboard.”

Mandal, who does not have a social media account, said “I love my work as a research scientist, and I think baking is a combination of physics, engineering, and chemistry. Baking and science are very related, the ratios have to be correct to make it work, and I would like to make the science behind baking more accessible to everyone.”

While some praised his win, others were not elated at the result. Sathnam Sanghera, Times writer and author of “The Boy with The Topknot” said Mandal’s win ‘represents the UK of today.  “An Indian engineering researcher living in Sheffield with an English couple and winning a British baking show by making mango-filed doughnuts. Nice to be reminded that despite our stupid politics, this is Britain in 2018.”

 

An Indian engineering researcher living in Sheffield with an English couple and winning a British baking show by making mango-filed doughnuts. Nice to be reminded that despite our stupid politics, this is Britain in 2018. #gbbofinal #rahul

— Sathnam Sanghera (@Sathnam) October 30, 2018

Detractors called the show ‘fixed’ and accused the judges of being partial.

One Twitter user commented “Argghhhh… I mean surely that wasn’t the correct decision on #GBBOFinal. Kim-Joy most consistent baker throughout, it felt as if the judges were always going select Rahul as their winner.”

Another Twitter user showed disappointment saying “I just don’t understand the love for Rahul, he seems nice but damn was he annoying, and he didn’t really deserve to win. I felt he got such better treatment than the others throughout when he baked badly”

Others tweeted:

I feel cheated by the bake off, way too much favouritism towards Rahul. Perfection for the first 9 weeks, then 3 awful weeks in a row and he still wins. Paul seemed to ignore everything Rahul did wrong and keep claiming his earlier successful challenges were enough #GBBOFinal 1/2

— Laura 🍍💐 (@lauraroseparris) October 30, 2018

 

https://twitter.com/Taylorchelseask/status/1057378386966990850

https://twitter.com/Blackmore93/status/1057379894412349440

 

https://twitter.com/Emily_Fahy/status/1057378424103333893

 

But there were others who tweeted in support of Mandal.

 

I cannot express the ways I love Rahul – this show is everything I love about the UK and being British in all its diversity #GBBOFinal

— Elizabeth Rickett (@Lizrickett) October 30, 2018

 

https://twitter.com/seungwoocafe/status/1057380407837163521

Rahul’s journey from shattering a glass jug to winning the competition can very well be a motivation to continue a tough day as this Twitter user said,

 

Rahul shows that even if YOU don't think you are great, you can still very much be. And that how you see yourself is not how others see you. #GBBOFinal pic.twitter.com/aycHkHTbcK

— Scott Bryan (@scottygb) October 30, 2018