The Great Christmas Bake Off 2023 line-up: What are the stars of the festive special up to now?

Christmas is just around the corner and with it the Great Christmas Bake Off of 2023.

A whole host of fan favorites will make a comeback in the delightful Christmas Eve show.

Bold judges Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith will be keeping a close eye on the festive bakes.

While prankster Noel Fielding and Alison Hammond will provide the cheerful humor.

But who brings the sweet treats? MailOnline see the bakers returning to the Bake Off special.

Sophie Faldo

Sophie Faldo took the Bake Off crown during the 2017 season. Before joining the show, she was an army officer.

According to HuffPost, the Bake Off winner left regular military service in 2012 and has since been a reservist and personal fitness trainer.

Sofie told me The sun: 'I know it sounds really crazy, but I actually don't like not going on tour.'

After winning, Sophie hoped to enter the stunt world while balancing a blossoming culinary career.

She said: 'I never dreamed I would make it to the final, let alone win, so I'm not sure where I'll go next.'

'It would be wonderful to write a pastry book, but let's see what comes my way. To start with, I would like to travel the world to gain inspiration.'

Her win is perhaps best remembered for a major mistake by guest judge Prue Leith, who accidentally announced Sophie's win 12 hours before the show because she failed to acknowledge the time difference while on holiday.

She now runs her own company called Sophie Faldo Couture Cakes.

Amelia Le Brown

We only saw Amelia briefly during her appearance on the show in 2019, before she was eliminated in the third episode.

The Halifax baker stumbled into Bread Week when she struggled to bare Tear and Share and her showstopper was branded 'terrible' and 'clunky'.

The fashion designer was inspired to start baking by both her grandmother and mother, who created beautiful sweet treats.

While studying in Leeds and then Leicester, she refined her baking skills and practiced for fundraising events and friends.

She was previously a sportswear designer and currently lives in the big city of London.

She also runs her own online bakery called The Cake Hun London.

Dan Beasley-Harling

Dan Beasley-Harling featured in the 2018 series of the baking competition show.

During the competition, the stay-at-home dad had a great few weeks, but quickly fell when pastry week arrived.

Since appearing on the show, he has built a successful career in baking, often posting his creations via Instagram and sharing recipes on his own website.

However, the first time wasn't the most pleasant experience for Dan, who described the show as 'incredibly stressful'.

In 2022, he said Yahoo UK: 'The experience of being in the tent is honestly an absolute nightmare – I'm naturally anxious and a perfectionist.

“If you do it right, that's great, but most of the time you're panicking.”

He continued, “So that countdown when you're told you have one minute left – all that scribbling is very real. It's down to the wire with seconds to spare.'

Linda Rayfield

Linda starred in the 2020 series of the show and made fans emotional when she made a cake in memory of her late daughter.

She was a fan favorite despite only leaving five episodes after everything went wrong during the dreaded banquet week.

As the week started, Linda was bursting with excitement, as pastries were one of her specialties.

But the Retirement Living team leader struggled through the competition after messing with her caged gypsy cake.

Upon her departure from the show, Linda confessed that she was not “sad” as she had a great experience on the show, compared to being “a kid at Disneyland.”

In 2021, the Bake Off star got to work Instagram to pay a tearful tribute to her late daughter Melissa, who died aged 18 from dementia.

She wrote: 'She was 18 when she passed away and it was only recently when I became a dementia friend and learned more about the condition that I realized she had dementia.

“Knowing that wouldn't have changed the outcome, but I would have understood all the times she looked at me blankly and cried so desperately that she probably didn't recognize me.

'That breaks my heart because I protected her all her life, comforted her and we shared so many wonderful memories, and at the end I feel like I let her down.

'People with dementia rely on their long-term memory and some of hers were quite traumatic.'

Linda has continued to bake since the show, often showing off her creations.

Carol Edwards

Carole, who was born in Dorset, left the show during the fifth episode – dessert week – after her steamed puddings and lemon meringue pies went sour.

The avid gardener – also known as Compost Carol – even had her own radio segment, where she shared gardening tips to listeners.

Carole, originally from West County, was a grocery store clerk prior to the 2022 competition.

Popular with fans, Carole took part in the Great British Bake Off tour in 2023 and continued to post her gardening knowledge and baking tips on Instagram.

Looking back on her first Bake Off experience, Carole shared Xformerly known as Twitter: “I had an amazing journey on the show and the memories will stay with me forever.

“I never felt confident that I could do this kind of thing, but it has taught me to take on more challenging opportunities and when you're out there… yes, you can do it.”