Who is Jairzeno on The Great British Bake Off? Meet the runner taking part in the new series

Runner Jairzeno 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.

Jairzeno, 51, is a head of finance, who loves combining guava, chocolate and Caribbean spices in his baking.

Who is Jairzeno?

Trinidadian-born Jairzeno says that “baking is like breathing”.

He started baking in 2014, after becoming disillusioned with delicious-looking bakes that just didn’t deliver on flavour.

He says in his own baking, he obsesses over flavour combinations such as guava and chocolate - which “is a firm favourite”.

Jairzeno uses lots of Caribbean spices, and says he aims for the “perfect pâtissérie finish”.

He moved to London from Trinidad and Tobago 15 years ago.

The keen runner has completed multiple half marathons across Europe, and ran the London Marathon in 2012.

When he’s not baking or running, he and his partner can be found cooking up a storm in their kitchen, or on walks, looking for shapes in nature to inspire Jairzeno’s next bake.

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.

George, 34, is a shared lives coordinator, who is also from the capital. He loves to use his Greek heritage to inspire his baking, and also enjoyed dancing with his dog Eli.

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.

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.