GREAT BRITISH BAKE OFF Scot Flora Shedden has got viewers so steamed up they want to marry her.
Flora, 19, has won a legion of fans with her stunning bakes and cheery personality.
But she has told The Sunday Post that some hot-blooded males fancy having her baking permanently in their kitchens.
And she also revealed that the profile of the show has led to her fulfilling a childhood dream by appearing on Blue Peter.
“There have been a few marriage proposals, which is absolutely hysterical,” confirmed Flora.
“And filming Blue Peter was a huge thing for me. I loved it and really appreciated the opportunity because I used to watch it avidly when I was wee.”
Flora is in this week’s semi-final but only after a nerve-shredding episode on Wednesday when she feared she’d blown it.
After being criticised for her over-elaborate cream horns, the Perthshire teenager redeemed herself with a good genoise sponge.
The Showstopper looked set to be her downfall when she had to take the top off of her three-tiered mountain of eclairs in the shape of a nun and was told it lacked flavour.
It left Paul Hollywood and Mary Berry to make a knife-edge call between Flora and Paul Jagger. And it was the prison governor who was axed.
“I definitely misjudged the oven this week,” confided Flora, who said she needed several stiff G&Ts after the showdown.
“My eclairs came out 10 times bigger than at home and it was all downhill from there.
“A lack of practising and 32C heat didn’t help my situation. I was upset because patisserie is something I enjoy and spend a lot of time doing.
“I had never eaten a cream horn either so the odds were not in my favour.”
Being just three good bakes away from a place in the Final that’s set to be the highest-rated TV show of the year is something Flora is still struggling to come to terms with.
“It’s unbelievably surreal being so close,” she admitted. “It was definitely not expected.To be in a tent with people so talented was amazing never mind doing well.”
She says the semi-final was no less tough than her anxious quarter-final.
“It was such a gruelling experience that I went in thinking, ‘You know what, it’s been a privilege so enjoy it’.”
Flora, whose family live near Dunkeld, has moved into student digs in St Andrews where she’s now going to university. She’s had to get used to being a local celebrity.
“I started a few weeks ago and it’s certainly been entertaining,” she laughs. “A lot of people have recognised me and requested cakes, so that’s been funny.
“It’s so nice being back studying again. I have been baking a lot and one of my flatmates is lactose-intolerant so I’m enjoying coming up with alternatives.”
Great British Bake Off Wednesday 8pm BBC1.How does Flora cope with Bake Off nerves? Lots of G&Ts with lime! – click here to read more
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