Star crowned winner of Great Christmas Bake Off and says 'I can't believe it'

The Great Christmas Bake Off saw a host of soap stars go head-to-head to win the festive baking title

Chris Bisson has emerged victorious in the soap special of The Great Christmas Bake Off.

The festive edition of the Channel 4 baking competition brought together stars from Britain's beloved soaps, including EastEnders' Natalie Cassidy, Coronation Street and Emmerdale's Bisson, EastEnders' Dean Gaffney, Emmerdale and Hollyoaks' Sheree Murphy, and Coronation Street's Shobna Gulati, all vying for the coveted title.

An elated Bisson exclaimed, "I won the Bake Off, I can’t believe it," and shared how "really lovely" it was to have his nearest and dearest cheering him on in the Bake Off tent. After being declared the winner, the celebrations continued with a performance by singer Paloma Faith.

Judges Paul Hollywood and Dame Prue Leith were tasked with making the tough calls. Hollywood revealed that the decision was "very close" between Bisson and fellow Emmerdale actor Murphy, but ultimately felt Bisson "got better and better" as the competition progressed.

Dame Prue Leith praised Bisson's final showstopper challenge, saying he "had to win" because his creation was "just so amazing, he was really showing off his baking skills".

The soap stars kicked off the competition by crafting a yule log complete with festive fillings and decorations. Hollywood then challenged them to whip up four mini meringue Christmas trees, layered with burnt honey cream and spiced cranberry compote for the technical challenge.

The grand finale, the showstopper challenge, saw the celebs constructing biscuit scenes depicting their favourite festive soap moments from their respective shows.

Sheree Murphy, Emmerdale's very own Trisha Dingle, wowed in the technical challenge with Paul Hollywood praising her trees as "look pretty good" and the flavours as "all pretty good", while also admiring their "beautifully designed" nature. An overjoyed Murphy responded, "Wow, I can’t believe what’s happening today, best Christmas ever."

Her success followed a coveted Hollywood handshake for her tiramisu yule log, which had "a lovely shape" and prompted Dame Prue to say, "you should be proud of that". Hollywood himself gushed, "I love tiramisu, big fan of tiramisu, it’s the blend between the alcohol, the cream, the sponge, and the top" and concluded that "So you’ve ended up with something that’s actually very, very nice, that sponge is delicious to eat."

Murphy's showstopper was a biscuit diorama titled Trisha’s Demise, depicting a crumbling Woolpack pub crushing an edible figure of her character. Meanwhile, Gulati created a fiery biscuit Corner Shop, and Gaffney presented an EastEnders' Wellard dog absconding with the Christmas turkey.

Additionally, Chris Bisson of Emmerdale fame garnered a handshake for his intricate biscuit representation of carol singers outside the Woolpack, which Hollywood lauded as "a very, very good bake", "clever", "neat", and "tidy".

In a light-hearted segment, former EastEnders actress Natalie Cassidy, known for her role as Sonia Fowler, shared with host Alison Hammond a rather vivid piece of advice she received from co-star June Brown, who played Dot Cotton. Cassidy recounted Brown's words: "darling, it’s like pooing a melon", referring to her on-screen childbirth scene when she was just 15.

Follow Mirror Celebs on TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Threads.