Great British Bake Off: highest earning GBBO winners revealed, plus how much they get paid per Instagram post

Baking fans are once again glued to their TV screens every Tuesday evening to see amateur bakers compete in the Great British Bake Off.

The 13th series of the hit baking reality TV show is airing now on Channel 4, and viewers are already wondering which of the new talented batch will ultimately go on to be crowned the ultimate star baker.

Previous winners have enjoyed great success; they’ve written numerous cookbooks, hosted their own TV shows, opened their own eateries and even baked for royalty.

So, who are the previous Bake Off winners, and how much do they earn per post on Instagram?

Here’s everything you need to know.

Who are the previous Great British Bake Off Winners?

In chronological order, the previous winners of the show, from 2010 to 2021, are Edd Kimber, Joanne Wheatley, John Whaite, Frances Quinn, Nancy Birtwhistle, Nadiya Hussain, Candice Brown, Sophie Faldo, Rahul Mandal, David Atherton, Peter Sawkins, and Giuseppe Dell’Anno.

How much do the previous Great British Bake Off winners earn?

Entertainment experts from Jeffbet.com analysed the social media profiles of the 12 previous winners to find out who has the highest potential social media earnings after leaving the show.

This is what they found.

Edd Kimber

Edd Kimber, now aged 37, was the first ever Bake Off winner in 2010. He posts on Instagram under the username The Boy Who Bakes and has 403K followers. He earns £1,740.04 per post.

Kimber is the author of four baking books; One Tin Bakes, Patisserie Made Simple, The Boy Who Bakes and Say It With Cake. He also regularly appears at the Ideal Home Show, BBC Good Food Show and headlines various food festivals across the UK and internationally. His recipes have featured in The Guardian, Sweet Magazine, Best, Marie Claire and House Beautiful.

Joanne Wheatley

Joanne Wheatley won the 2011 series of Bake Off, and since winning she has set up a cookery school from her home in Essex which was listed in The Guardian’s Top Five UK Baking Schools.

She has 27,300 Instagram followers, and earns £196.65 per post, which is the least amount earned per post of any of the previous GBBO winners. You can follow her on Instagram under the name Jo Wheatley Lifestyle.

Wheatley, aged 53, has also demonstrated her recipes at BBC Good Food Show.  She is a regular baker at The Cake and Bake Show, and Ideal Home Show as well as many regional food festivals. She has also written two books; A Passion for Baking and Home Baking.

John Whaite

John Whaite, aged 33, was the third GBBO champion in 2012. He has 301K followers on his Instagram page, which is simply John Whaite, and earns £1,305.46 per post.

He now works as a chef, television presenter, and author, and even came runner-up in the 2021 series of BBC dance contest Strictly Come Dancing. He has released several cookery books; John Whaite Bakes, John Whaite Bakes at Home, Perfect Plates, Comfort: Food to Soothe the Soul and A Flash in the Pan. He has also appeared as a chef on TV shows including ITV’s Lorraine and Channel 4’s Steph’s Packed Lunch.

Frances Quinn

Frances Quinn won the fourth series of Bake Off in 2013. After winning the show, she wrote a book called Quintessential Baking and she now creates custom cakes for events while also running a successful food blog. Her work has appeared in Vogue and other publications. The 40-year-old has 79K followers on her Instagram, which is also simply called Frances Quinn, and she earns £ 454.57 per post.

Nancy Birtwhistle

Nancy Birtwhistle took home the Bake Off crown in 2014. She has 192K Instagram followers, posting under her name Nancy Birtwhistle, and earns £815.91 per post. Now aged 68, Since winning the show, she has taught classes in cake judging, taught in schools and exhibited her bakes at shows across the country. She publishes recipes and showcases her garden, chickens, and guinea hens on her official website, and has also published one cook book called Sizzle and Drizzle.

Nadiya Hussain

Nadiya Hussain, who won GBBO in 2015, earns the most of all the Bake Off winners. She has 860K Instagram followers and earns £3,726.87 per post. She posts on the social media site under the name Nadiya J Hussain.

The 37-year-old has presented numerous shows since winning the show, including The Chronicles of Nadiya, Nadiya’s British Food Adventure and Nadiya’s Family Favourites. She has written several books, including Nadiya’s Kitchen, Nadiya’s Everyday Baking and children’s baking book Bake Me a Story. She was chosen to bake a cake for the late Queen Elizabeth II for her 90th birthday celebrations in 2016.

Hussain has also won, or been shortlisted for numerous awards, including a Women in Film and Television award in 2017. She also writes a monthly column for The Times Magazine, a part of the Saturday supplement of The Times, and her recipes have appeared in BBC’s Good Food magazine, the Guardian and The Telegraph.

Candice Brown

Candice Brown won Bake Off in 2016, and has gone to become the author of two cookbooks; Comfort and Happy Cooking. Since winning Bake Off, Brown became a Sunday Times columnist, has baked on ITV’s This Morning and Christmas Kitchen and appeared as a panellist on Loose Women.

She has also been featured in Hello magazine and tested lipsticks for Heat magazine after becoming known for her statement lipsticks during her time on the show. Brown, aged 37, has also taken part in live baking demos at The Cake and Bake show and Foodies Festival. She has 267K followers on Instagram and earns £1,156.84 per post. She posts on the social media site under her name, Candice Brown.

Sophie Faldo

Sophie Faldo was crowned the best amateur baker in the UK in the 2017 series. She now owns a luxury bespoke cake shop called Sophie Faldo Couture Cakes. The 37-year-old has turned her hand to presenting, professional baking and recipe writing too since her triumph. She has 43,400 Instagram followers, under her name Sophie Faldo, and earns £316.15 per post.

Rahul Mandal

Rahul Mandal won the 2018 series of GBBO. The 35-year-old returned to his day job as a nuclear research scientist at the University of Sheffield’s Advanced Manufacturing Research Department after his win.

As an ambassador, Mandal said he wants to inspire as many children as possible to pursue careers in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics). He hosts talks with youngsters where he encourages them to consider the career path that he took, and now mostly bakes as a hobby in his spare time.

Rahul did, however, bake a world-record cake, being the first cake to include one hundred different ingredients. Each ingredient originated from a different country around the world, and he even styled the cake to look like suitcases stacked on top of one another with a world globe on top, weighing over an incredible 50Kg and standing over three foot tall. He has 384K followers on his Instagram page, Bake With Rahul, and earns £1,649.65 per post.

David Atherton

David Atherton was the 2019 winner of the show. Atherton wrote a fortnightly column of healthy cookery for The Guardian named Fit Food with David Atherton and has appeared on children’s show Blue Peter as a guest chef. The 32-year-old has written four cookbooks; My First Cook Book, My First Baking Book, My First Green Cook Book, and Good to Eat, He earns £650.81 for every post he sends to his 151K followers on his Instagram account, Nomad Baker David.

Peter Sawkins

Peter Sawkins was the youngest ever Bake Off winner when he won the contest in 2020. His debut cookbook, Peter Bakes, was released the following year. He interacts with his 253K followers on his Instagram page, Peter Bakes, and earns £1,091.65 per post.

Giuseppe Dell’Anno

Giuseppe Dell’Anno is the current reigning champion of GBBO. Since he won the show last year, 46-year-old Dell’Anno has communicated with his 243K fans via his Instagram account, Giuseppe Cooks, and earns £1,732.22 per post. His debut book, Giuseppe’s Italian Bakes, is due for release this autumn.