Who is George on The Great British Bake Off? Meet the dog lover taking part in the new series

George - who has a miniature zoo in his house - is one of the 12 amateur bakers who will compete in the Great British Bake Off.

The hit Channel 4 show starts again tonight, and there are four Londoners taking part.

George, 34, is a shared lives coordinator from London, who loves to use his Greek heritage to inspire his baking.

Who is George?

Londoner George grew up in a close-knit Greek-Cypriot family where food was always a big part of family life.

Now married to his childhood sweetheart, he has three children and a house full of animals, including a dancing Japanese Spitz dog, called Eli.

George’s mum taught him to bake, a legacy he says he is now passing on to his own children.

He loves all the Greek classics, and his planning on bringing his culture to the Bake Off tent.

George says his flavours often include “home-grown herbs” and he likes to give his bakes a touch of class with a “shabby-chic, vintage vibe”.

The baker has a keen eye for detail, looking for perfection in the finished presentation.

When George isn’t baking, gardening or looking after his miniature zoo, he says he will be “in the great outdoors with his family, on bike rides and walks”.

Who are the other bakers?

Amanda, 56, is a Metropolitan Police detective who says she is not afraid to arrest judges Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith if they criticise her bakes.

Chigs, 40, from Leicestershire, is a sales manager who loves sky diving. With his baking, he likes to do intricate chocolate work.

Crystelle, 26, also from London, is a client relationship manager. She sings in an online choir and uses her diverse heritage to inspire her baking.

Freya, 19, is a psychology student from North Yorkshire. She’s a vegan baker, and loves riding her horse Winnie.

Giuseppe, 45, is a chief engineer from Bristol. The dad-of-three loves cooking Italian-flavoured bakes for his sons.

Jairzeno, 51, also from London, is a head of finance, who loves combining guava and chocolate. He enjoys using Caribbean spices in his baking.

Jürgen, 56, is a trombonist from the Black Forest, Germany, who moved to Sussex. He’s works in IT and takes that precision into his baking.

Lizzie, 28, is a car production operative from Liverpool with a criminology degree. She loves doing the samba, and experimenting with flavour in her bakes.

Maggie, 70, is a retired nurse and midwife from Dorset who loves the great outdoors. She loves making traditional bakes.

Rochica, 27, a junior business partner in HR from Birmingham. She’s been a dancer since the age of two, and loves using Jamaican flavours in her bakes.

Tom, 28, is a software developer from Kent who loves to sing and run. He loves to take the foundations of a recipe and make it his own.

When is the Great British Bake Off on this year?

The newest season of the Great British Bake Off will kick off on Tuesday 21 September.

It will air at 8pm on Channel 4, and will be available to watch on demand through All4 if you miss it live.

Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith are still the judges, and the show will be presented by Noel Fielding and Matt Lucas.

Who won last year?

The 11th series, which aired in late 2020, saw cast and crew move into Down Hall Hotel near Bishop’s Stortford, Hertfordshire, throughout the duration of filming, after being tested for the virus and self-isolating.

Peter Sawkins, an accounting and finance student from Edinburgh, was crowned the show’s youngest ever winner at 20.

He was also the first winner from Scotland in the show’s decade-long history.

The programme also saw its biggest-ever final on Channel 4, attracting a record average audience of 9.2 million viewers and a 39.7% share of the audience.