David Atherton (baker)

David Atherton was born in Whitby, North Yorkshire and lived in the village of Ruswarp until he was 18. He came from a family with 5 children and his mum baked fresh bread and cakes every week.[2][3] He studied art and design before deciding on a career in healthcare and trained as a nurse.[4] He has a post-graduate degree in wilderness and expedition medicine, and works as a health adviser for Voluntary Service Overseas. Atherton followed in the footsteps of his mum who volunteered for VSO in Papua New Guinea in the 1970s.[5] Atherton has worked in various countries around the world, such as Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Papua New Guinea and Nigeria, including a stint as a clinical instructor[5] in Malawi.[6][7]

Atherton took part in the tenth series of The Great British Bake Off, encouraged by friends in his pottery class.[8] Atherton was originally a reserve for the show, but was called up to replace another contestant just before filming started.[9] Atherton was described as calm and controlled throughout the whole series, and was known for his healthier bakes. He beat Steph Blackwell and Alice Fevronia to the title in the final, despite never having won a Star Baker in any of the previous episodes, being the first winner in the history of the show to do so.[10]

He is also the fourth male winner of the Bake Off, after Edd Kimber from Series 1, John Whaite from Series 3 and Rahul Mandal from Series 9, making it the first time in the show's history to feature two consecutive male winners.

Atherton started writing a cookery column for The Guardian in 2020 on food for fitness.[11] Atherton's first book My First Cookbook will be published by Walker books in August 2020.[12]

David lives in South London with his partner Nik Sariyski, who is a visual merchandising manager at Nike.[13][7] His hobbies include cycling and ceramics, as well as food. He came out as gay when he was 29.[14]

While working as a health advisor in Malawi, he taught himself how to build an oven out of an oil drum and has invented a cake that could steam over a village fire.