BAKE Off champ John Whaite has warned the latest batch of wannabe bakers to be careful what they wish for - after winning the show derailed his life.
The star, 33, appeared on the series in 2012 - when he was 23 - but struggled to deal with his new-found fame. The cake-maker turned dancefloor star on Strictly Come Dancing where he finished runner-up to winners Rose Ayling-Ellis and Giovanni Pernice in the series' first same-sex couple.
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 life path. "I could blame the production company or the BBC. "It would be simple to point the finger and say they gave me no advice on how to manage the transience of the industry, or how to comprehend the temporariness of my appeal. "They didn’t, and perhaps in the wake of reality TV star meltdowns and suicides, there should be a serious reform of the way contributors are prepared for, and guided through, their post-show life. "But I don’t think it would have made an ounce of difference even if they had.
Addiction to the razzle dazzle came naturally to the youthful me." He says he thought he'd never win the show - and sometimes regrets even agreeing to appear.
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