Georgie Grasso, a former GBBO winner and mother-of-three, discusses her time on the show, giving honest accounts of her thoughts on the judges, and how she couldn’t understand Noel Fielding’s jokes.
It’s been a whirlwind of a year for The Great British Bake Off 2024 winner Georgie Grasso. After rising to the top spot over 10 weeks in the iconic tent, the proud Welsh-Italian mum-of-three, who lives with her kids and husband in a Welsh farmhouse, hasn’t taken her foot off the gas. Now, she’s navigating a very different life since swapping her nursing career for one where she can follow her foodie passions – and she loves it.
As the current series of Bake Off has viewers gripped, Georgie, 34, talks exclusively to OK! about the daily chaos of parenting her three children with her husband Kristian, her struggles with mental health, and what the likes of Pru Leith and Noel Fielding are really like behind the scenes.
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How would you sum up life since winning the Bake Off, Georgie? !
In a fantastic way, chaos, absolute chaos! I made the decision to temporarily stop working in nursing. Due to the children and my mental health, I knew it would be something I had to do. I was really struggling with a job that was so demanding because of my ADHD. I currently work from home. I’m really enjoying doing a lot of brand building in the food industry.
To reflect my roots, I’m really interested in publishing a cookery book, but I’m not sure whether it’ll be just a Welsh or a Welsh-Italian book. I’m also working on that, but slowly. I’m not interested in moving things along. It’s very busy in my home because my son is 15 and I have an 11-year-old and a 5-year-old. It’s simply insane all the time.
Your children must believe that your mother is very cool.
Oh no, I’m not their cool mother. The exact opposite is happening. My kids would always feel embarrassed, especially my daughter, but when I first won, many people were approaching us in the street, which was lovely. She gets embarrassed pretty much everywhere I go, come to think of it!
Did you have a favorite judge when you won the Bake Off?
Honestly, they’re all amazing but Alison Hammond is literally my favourite person in the world. They’re all so down-to-earth, though. I think that’s one thing I’ve learned from doing Bake Off, you realise that TV presenters, or celebrities, are just normal people living their lives. It’s just that their jobs are very different to most people’s!
When the cameras weren’t rolling, were they drastically different?
They’re what they seem like on the TV, truly. Alison’s energy is so positive. It’s amazing. Then Pru, she was like my mammy on the show. Paul is also amazing, and although he comes off quite stern, he’s actually really funny and caring. With my ADHD, I can get quite confused, and I really didn’t understand a lot of Noel’s jokes. I was like, ‘What are you on about, Noel?’ I’m very gullible. So he’d come over and say things and I’d try to go along with it but I didn’t have a clue.
The bakers’ conversation was competitive, supportive, or both, which was it?
Everyone believed it wasn’t a competition, in the sense that. Even in the final, I’d rather help one of the other competitors who was struggling than to concentrate solely on myself. I remember Dylan was having a hard time toward the end of the cake when I realized I was about to finish it off. We asked the producers, “We’re such a lovely group, is this always like this,” they replied. And they responded, “Yes, that’s the beauty of Bake Off!” Everyone just gets on, that’s the way it’s presented. It feels very homely.
How did you get ready for the famous tent?
I believe that practicing and timing my bakes was the only way I could get ready. I was certain that doing the physical things would help me mentally. Although I don’t have any control over my actions, I like to be aware of what I’m doing. Otherwise, I’m actually in total panic.
Actually, Mike [Wilkins] and I performed a small ritual where we would give ourselves some positive motivation each time we entered the tent and hug the large pink tree outside. Simply put, it reduced any unfavorable feelings and stress. It was challenging for me to understand everything, especially since I’m from a small town.
Did the show ever have any challenging moments?
Well, I’ve struggled with mental health issues my entire life, and doctors have long suggested that just generalized anxiety, depression, and then postpartum depression are the causes. When I was 30 or 31 years old, I was told that ADHD made no sense in the world.
I’ve learned more about that and its effects over the past few years. I believe that if I had appeared on the show a few years ago, I might have occasionally lost interest. But now I know what my emotional needs are, so I could handle that when I needed to unwind for a moment while filming. I’m good at recognizing my emotions and current mental health.
