Great British Bake Off’s Laura Adlington has shared she felt ‘very guilty’ after Hermine was sent home by judges Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith in this year’s semi-finals.
The controversial exit prompted cruel trolls to target Laura, and even sparked Ofcom complaints.
Dissecting the moment Laura found out she had made it to the final, alongside Dave Friday and winner Peter Sawkins, she revealed she felt terribly bad for her fellow baker.
Speaking exclusively to Metro.co.uk, Laura recalled: ‘I think in my head I had a feeling I was staying, but I was also so ready to go home at that point. I hadn’t prepared for the final at all and I just felt very guilty for Hermine because I knew how much she wanted it.
‘I knew that she’s a far better baker than I am and I don’t say that in a “poor me” way, that’s just fact. I’m alright, but she was fantastic. I felt very guilty, even though it wasn’t my fault at the time.’
Laura was bombarded with hateful messages from trolls as a result of Prue and Paul’s decision, even though viewers couldn’t sample her bakes for themselves.
‘Luckily there were a lot of people who did come to my defence and stand up for me,’ she told us.
‘People sent me lovely messages of support as well. Candice [Brown], who won it a few years ago, she definitely came to my defence on Twitter a lot and kept checking in with me, which I really appreciated.’
Laura advises people who are being bombarded by horrible keyboard warriors to speak up and to address it.
‘Don’t ignore it, don’t hide in a corner,’ she encouraged. ‘Speak up, you have a voice and you should use it. Like many people, I was bullied as a kid and I just think I’m 31-years-old now, I’m not going to be bullied as an adult.
‘It’s important to stand up for yourself and to call it out, call out the bad behaviour. It’s not acceptable, it’s not nice.’
She may not have won Bake Off, but she’s sure as hell our Miss Congeniality.
Great British Bake Off is available to stream on All 4.
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