Bake Off star Flora Shedden reveals she’s quitting university to write her book

SCOT Flora Shedden has quit university after her Great British Bake Off adventure.

Flora, 19, has told how she’s taking a year off from her studies after being swamped with offers.

She is currently writing a book tipped to be a best-seller and set to make the Perthshire teenager a fortune.

And speaking to The Sunday Post in her first major interview since she reached the GBBO semi-final Flora says she just had to put baking before a degree.

“I’ve just signed a leave of absence at St Andrews University and started writing a book called Gatherings,” said Flora, from Dunkeld.

“Making the decision was really tough. I’d already taken the last year out working so I was conscious I was quite late starting a degree anyway.

“Putting it off for another year was something I really didn’t want to do.

“But this is an exciting time and these opportunities are only there now. They won’t come back in four years when I’ve finished my degree.

“It was difficult but I knew I didn’t want to do anything half-hearted. I didn’t want either my studies to slide or produce a book I wasn’t happy with. So I’ve got to grab it with both hands.”

Making the big call only came about after a get-together with her parents and sisters Hebe and Willow at the family home.

“I’d been travelling so much for meetings and other things that I’d barely been home and they kind of said, ‘What about uni?’

“I knew then I had to decide what to commit to.

“My family were so helpful and put things in perspective they said St Andrews had been around for 600 years and would hopefully still be there in another year.”

Flora could be destined for a TV career (Andrew Cawley / DC Thomson)

Flora was approached by a literary agent and, such is the furore surrounding GBBO, book companies have been fighting to get her signature.

The final was seen by over 13 million while 11 million tuned in for Flora’s semi-final exit.

Industry experts estimate she could earn at least £150,000 on the back of the success, to which the likeable student just smiles and says: “That would be nice!”

Flora was such an appealing and natural figure on screen she has even been tipped as “the next Nigella”.

And a TV career could be the next step.

“I was really surprised by how much I enjoyed television,” she admits.

“I thought I’d be a total shambles but TV was a lovely experience.

“I think it’s a really nice way of speaking to people.

“And I’m a big bletherer, I’ll speak to anyone.

“It was very exciting and if something was to come out of it and I could make it a career then it’d be lovely.”

Flora’s a huge fan of food shows on TV.

But she backs top chef Michel Roux Jr’s claim this week that TV chefs need to do more to get the right messages across as many mums no longer pass on cookery skills to their kids.

“I definitely support what he says because I see people at uni who just order in pizza every night.

“There’s a very upmarket way of cooking on TV these days and it’d be nice if there was a bit more emphasis on simpler meals. Telly loves chefs but while the food they produce looks beautiful, people might not try it themselves.”

Flora says her new book will be mix of baking and cooking and will show simple ways to make delicious dishes you can serve to friends for dinner.

She’ll be in full baking mode next weekend when she’s one of the star attractions at the Cake and Bake Show in Edinburgh.

The show also features The Great British Bake Off Live.

Flora and other show favourites Ugne and Marie will join the three finalists Nadiya Jamir Hussain, Ian Cumming and Tamal Ray in recreating their most memorable bakes.

But while they’ll be on stage together, the bakers have become anything but strangers since their time in the tent.

“We’ve all stayed in touch in fact I’m staying with Mat this weekend,” reveals Flora.

“We have a WhatsApp group between all 12 of us which is a really great way to tell each other what we’re doing.

“The first Wednesday after Bake Off finished we were all chatting, wondering what we would do because there was nothing on the telly!

“We’re quite strong personalities and all very different so it really surprised me how much we bonded. But it’s so intense in the tent, you just think ‘we’re all in this together’ and friendships form from that.

“That was really good fun and another unexpected thing I got from the show.”

Flora on the show (BBC)

Flora was a whisker away from the final, seemingly ahead of rival Ian going into the last bake.

But her final creation crumbled along with her chances and she does look back with a wish it could have been different.

“I definitely regret that I gave myself so much to do,” she says with a sigh.

“I wasn’t tasting things, which is rookie error number one.

“I had no sugar in the crispy topping, which is a huge error, and it didn’t have enough butter.

“If I stopped and thought about it then maybe it would have gone better.

“But you are so knackered at the point, it’s just overwhelming.

“So in the end I think it was a fair decision. I don’t think it was wrong at all

“Ultimately, it just wasn’t a good performance.”

Flora has a chance to right one wrong with what she calls a “redemption bake” at the Edinburgh show next Saturday.

She’s having another go at a cake judge Paul Hollywood described as “stodgy”.

“I’ll be making a pistachio and apple cake which will be a version of my sugar-free one on the show. It’s usually a go-to one for me but it’s amazing how things change when you get in that wee white tent,” laughs Flora.

“It didn’t turn out great so I’ll be trying to rectify that one.

“I’m actually pretty nervous about the whole thing. I’ve never even been to a food show so for my very first one I’ll be up there doing a demonstration which is a bit weird. I’m glad it’s close to home and I’ll have my family there.”

The Cake and Bake Show is at the Royal Highland Centre on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Visit thecakeandbakeshow.co.uk