Great British Bake Off: Alvin leaves show after his pastries fail to impress

Alvin was the sixth contestant to leave
BBC
Hannah Al-Othman10 September 2015

Nurse Alvin Magallanes was the sixth contestant to be voted off the Great British Bake Off after he failed to conjure up the baking "miracle" co-judge Mary Berry said he would need to survive elimination.

The 37-year-old left the competition after pastry week, when the bakers were tasked with making short-crust pastry tarts, Cypriot flaounes, and vol-au-vents - all of which proved a challenge to Magallanes, who struggled with timing.

His plum frangipane tart did not go down well with co-judges Paul Hollywood and Mary Berry, while his second-from-last position in the technical challenge put him in danger.

Berry commented that he would need a "miracle" to save himself in the final challenge.

No miracle was forthcoming, and his chicken a la King vol-au-vents were "raw" in places, according to Hollywood.

Berry complained she was "not getting much flavour" from the salmon en crout mini-pastries, cementing his position at the bottom of the heap.

Magallanes said just making the final twelve was a dream come true, revealing it was actually watching the show which inspired him to take baking seriously, after he became "hooked" on watching the BBC One series.

"I always wanted to be on the show, I just got hooked and my interest in baking grew even more as I watched it," he explained.

"I bought everything from books to baking equipment and different spices and flavours.

"When we arrived on the coach for the first day of filming, I could see the top part of the tent in the field and I couldn't believe it," the Bake Off fan said.

"All I ever wanted was to be part of the 12 bakers and there I was.

"It was so exciting, and no-one can ever take that feeling away from me."

Magallanes, who works as a nurse in Berkshire, revealed he had become a bit of a celebrity among his patients.

"The show has been fantastic and has brought people together at work," he said.

"The patients refuse to go to sleep until they have seen the show, and some of them ask me to drop in and see them on the ward."

According to Magallanes, nursing and baking have a lot in common.

"You have to give a lot of care and attention in nursing the same as you do in baking," the father-of-two explained.

"Nursing is who I am, it defines me and is my way of life.

"Sometimes when it's stressful at work it is good to come home and bake and then you can unwind."

The amateur baker revealed his plans to keep learning - though he will not give up the day job.

"I am carrying on with my nursing, but would also like to take a patisserie course and get some kind of qualification working with chocolate," he said.

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