Born in 1989, the chef and TV presenter John Whaite grew up in Eccleston, a village in Lancashire. A high-achieving child and teen, he studied at Oxford and Manchester universities and briefly trained as a banker. He turned his attention to TV in 2012, winning The Great British Bake Off. In 2021, he was a finalist on Strictly Come Dancing in the first all-male couple with Johannes Radebe. Whaite, who lives with his partner, Paul Atkins, is now a TV presenter with five acclaimed cookbooks. His memoir, Dancing on Eggshells, is out now.
I was two and a half and sitting on hay bales at my grandad’s farm in this photo. That is where I and my two sisters and cousin would play most weekends. It’s also where we’d do naughty things like wee in Grandad’s wellies. We were quite mischievous.
