Great British Bake Off Scot on how show changed his life

In his sunlit kitchen, he deftly scoops, slices and ices, spreading filling over soft sponge while delivering a string of funny stories from his time on The Great British Bake Off.

“I only applied because I thought I wouldn’t get on,” he says. “I hadn’t even thought about asking for time off from work and then I got a phonecall telling me I was on the show. All I could think was oh, Kevin - what have you done….”

Kevin Flynn, who appeared on last year's Bake Off, opens up about his time on the show (Image: Gordon Terris/Newsquest)

Today’s cake is a ‘posh’ Victoria sponge, with oozy rhubarb jam and an unusual custard buttercream. The jam is homemade, although not with homegrown rhubarb, Kevin admits.

“We did try growing our own, but the dog just ripped it out,” he says. “We can’t plant anything apart from grass. It’s ridiculous.”

Kevin made it to the final six of last year’s Great British Bake Off, which returns to Channel 4 on Tuesday (September 26), and his easy charm and witty asides won over steely-eyed judges Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith, celebrity hosts Noel Fielding and Matt Lucas - who is replaced this year by Alison Hammond - and millions of viewers.

Little signs of Bake Off are dotted around Kevin’s Hamilton home, which he shares with wife Rachel - the couple met as students at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, where Rachel studied flute and Kevin saxophone - cat Rupert, and aforementioned menace of a dog, Judy the Airedale terrier.

Kevin at home in Hamilton. He is a musician, and a music teacher, as well as a baker. (Image: Gordon Terris/Newsquest)

On the shelves in the living room sits a replica cake he was presented with on sister show An Extra Slice, and a framed illustration of one of his best bakes, a delicious dessert made from chocolate and banana mousses and crème mousseline, called What the Dog Dug.

“There was another bit to that model, but the dog ate it,” explains Kevin, with a sigh. “It was made of green polystyrene. We could not work out why on earth she was pooing green all week, until we spotted part of the model was missing.”

The replica cake - minus the piece the dog ate - and a copy of the Bake Off's official book (Image: Gordon Terris/Newsquest)

Kevin grew up in Newarthill, near Motherwell, where his mum Julie “baked all the time” when he and his sisters Louise and Joanna and brother Brian were little.

“When we went to school, she went back to work, and didn’t have the time to bake,” he says. “But she had all her recipes in a notebook, and those are what taught me to bake and cook.”

Kevin started baking at the age of 18, as a “decompression” to help him deal with stress.

“I’ve had to learn how to manage stress throughout my life and career,” he explains. “Saying yes to Bake Off - I couldn’t have done it 10 years ago. It was one of the hardest things I have ever done, but I was in a much better place to cope with it.

“It’s what you make it. I was probably quite naïve. Some of the bakers were there with plans, wanting to use it as a platform to other things. But if you are going into it pinning all your career hopes on it, that’s got to be stressful.

“I didn’t think of it like that. I don’t want to move to London, to be on TV. I love my job, I would rather stay here and just do little baking passion projects on the side - things I can fit around my work.”

A framed picture of one of Kevin's most famous bakes, What the Dog Dug (Image: Gordon Terris/Newsquest)

As an instrumental music teacher, Kevin has worked in around 40 primary schools across Scotland. He is also a musician, playing sax, flute, clarinet and piano with function and wedding bands, and for musical theatre, most recently in the Madness musical Our House, with Minerva Theatre Company.

Since leaving the series, he has taken on some commissions for food magazines and the Scripture Union and is now preparing for next summer’s food festivals.

Being recognised on the streets of Hamilton has been a bit unsettling, he admits.

“I find the whole idea of fame, of being ‘a celebrity’ a bit icky,” he says. “But I’m never going to forget the experience of being on Bake Off.

“I still have to pinch myself, when I realise I’m part of that amazing history.”

Back in his kitchen, the finished Victoria sponge - now beautifully decorated and photographed from every angle - is en route to the school where Kevin will be teaching the next day.

“I feel like I have to take in baking, wherever I go,” he says, almost apologetically. “I mean, I was on Bake Off. People do sort of expect it.”