In praise of Jo, 41, from Essex

The Great British Bake Off is no Great British Menu, but then there are few things I enjoy quite as much as Great British Menu (I have no doubt I’ll write about this too, when the opportunity presents itself). The Great British Bake Off contains fewer egos, more polite judges, and a concept that you'd think I’d get bored of in no time; enthusiastic amateurs compete in various types of bakery until they are whittled down to a single Master Baker. It’s The Apprentice of cakes.

Unlike The Apprentice where the joy comes from seeing arseholes getting their just desserts, the contestants here all seem like really quite nice people (who make their own just desserts). I’m surprised by how much I’ve got involved in it.The shock when both Robert and Jason were chucked out! The roulade fiasco! Mel and Sue! Now I like baking, but this here is a whole other level.

Tonight is the final, and I’m so happy that my absolute favourite contestant has made it this far – Jo, 41, from Essex. She was introduced in the first episode as Jo, 41 from Essex, and she looks so much like someone who is Jo, 41, from Essex, that since then I have only ever referred to her as Jo, 41, from Essex. I love Jo,41, from Essex. I like her face. I like her high voice and estuary accent. I like that she has been an absolute sweetheart from day one, and I like how she was rendered speechless when she got through to the final. For a long time she seemed to fall in more or less the middle of the table, alternating something fantastic with a bit of a disaster, but she’s always made it through. You can see a lot of anxiety in her, so it would be gratifying to see her win. I am unashamedly Team Jo, 41, from Essex.

Unfortunately, she has strong competition. The clever money has got to be on Holly. Right off the bat she has dominated the higher end of the league, but she’s so precise. I don’t like precise. The whole perfectionist thing has obviously worked out well for her so far, but I don’t trust her. Oh, I’m sure she’s perfectly nice, but allow me my prejudices. As far as I can recall she only came close to going home once after a difficult round. In the end they sent home Yasmin instead, but Holly was tearfully telling the camera that now she wanted to go on and win because she felt responsible for Yasmin. She would win for Yasmin. Ugh. I may have shouted at the TV.

The third finalist is Mary-Anne. In any other competition she would have been my favourite, but she can’t quite take the place of Jo, 41, from Essex in my heart. She’s a little more experimental in her cooking, a little more willing to wing it, rarely rattled (even last week when she accidentally put her fancy decorations onto a cake backwards where no one could see it), and with a dry and deadpan sense of humour. I’d be happy to see Mary-Anne win.

Well, kick off is coming up - I'll update with the results shortly

UPDATE: She won! Good for Jo, 41, from Essex. She owned the others, it was beautiful.