Great British Bake Off unveils bakers line-up for socially-distanced series

The Great British Bake Off is back to bring a bit of normalcy to a year that has been anything but normal! Twelve amateur bakers from across the world spent their summer isolating with judges Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith, co-host Noel Fielding and his new colleague Matt Lucas so 2020's Star Baker could still be crowned. Meet the line-up who'll be entering this socially-distanced tent…

Name: Dave

Age: 30

Hometown: Hampshire

Occupation: Armoured Guard

Special fact: He loves giving his bakes a mirror glaze while listening to punk rock!

What they want you to know: "My strengths are the ability to learn from mistakes, take criticism and use it to improve. I am incredibly determined and see the positive in every situation."

Name: Hermine

Age: 39

Hometown: London

Occupation: Accountant

Special fact: Having been raised in Benin in West Africa, there is a French influence to her bakes as well as an interest in high-end pâtissérie.

What they want you to know: "My strength is my understanding of how ingredients work together and how to get flavours right."

Name: Laura

Age: 31

Hometown: Kent

Occupation: Digital Manager

Special fact: This volunteer for the Samaritans is a perfectionist when baking, with a keen love of citrus as a flavouring.

What they want you to know: "I bake from the heart and love making things that pack a punch in terms of flavour."

Name: Linda

Age: 61

Hometown: East Sussex

Occupation: Retirement Living Team Leader

Special fact: Loves countryside cooking, having visited one aunt's dairy farm as a child and now frequenting another aunt's fruit farm.

What they want you to know: "I think my experience over the years would be my strength."

Name: Loriea

Age: 27

Hometown: Durham

Occupation: Diagnostic Radiographer

Special fact: Having been born in Jamaica, she uses baking to express her Carribean roots.

What they want you to know: "My strength is my cool and calm nature and my ability to work well under pressure. Outside of these I think I have great strengths with blending untraditional flavours."

Name: Lottie

Age: 31

Hometown: West Sussex

Occupation: Pantomime Producer

Special fact: Believes baking is her ancestral gift, as her nan was a skilled cake baker.

What they want you to know: "Turns out I'm a fast learner! I taught myself a lot of techniques ahead of the show and really enjoyed the process."

Name: Makbul

Age: 51

Hometown: Greater Manchester

Occupation: Accountant

Special fact: Completely self-taught using TV baking shows as his early instruction.

What they want you to know: "As a baker one of my biggest strengths is that I'm not daunted by much. I will have a go."

Name: Marc

Age: 51

Hometown: Cornwall

Occupation: Bronze Resin Sculptor

Special fact: Used bread-baking as a form of therapy while recovering from losing a leg in a motorbike accident.

What they want you to know: "My strengths are definitely bread and any dough based recipes."

Name: Mark

Age: 32

Hometown: Liverpool

Occupation: Project Manager

Special fact: Having fallen in love with baking in a Northern Irish pie shop, his baking combines Celtic, Africa and Asian flavours.

What they want you to know: "I think I am quite a versatile baker and always up for a challenge."

Name: Peter

Age: 20

Hometown: Edinburgh

Occupation: Accounting and Finance Student

Special fact: Inspired to begin baking by actually watching Bake Off with his family.

What they want you to know: "My strengths are time management and planning."

Name: Rowan

Age: 55

Hometown: Worcestershire

Occupation: Music Teacher

Special fact: His passion for French pâtissérie includes reinventing 18th century recipes for modern palettes.

What they want you to know: "My strengths are ambition in ideas and design."

Name: Sura

Age: 31

Hometown: London

Occupation: Pharmacy Dispenser

Special fact: Her bakes are infused with the flavours of her heritage from Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Syria and India.

What they want you to know: "My strengths lie in flavour and balancing of flavours and also making small and dainty bakes – but my weakness is large multi-tiered cakes."