Martha Collison (born 23 September 1996) is a British baker and food columnist. She rose to fame after competing as ''
The Great British Bake Off
''The Great British Bake Off'' (often abbreviated to ''Bake Off'' or ''GBBO'') is a British television baking competition, produced by Love Productions, in which a group of amateur bakers compete against each other in a series of rounds, atte ...
''s youngest ever contestant,
reaching the quarter-final of
the fifth series at age 17. She writes a weekly column for the
Waitrose
Waitrose & Partners (formally Waitrose Limited) is a brand of British supermarkets, founded in 1904 as Waite, Rose & Taylor, later shortened to Waitrose. It was acquired in 1937 by employee-owned retailer John Lewis Partnership, which still se ...
weekend newspaper,
and has released two cookery books as well as running a successful baking blog.
Early life
Martha Collison grew up in Ascot, Berkshire.
She has one younger sister, Hannah.
She began baking at the age of eight, the result of her parents letting her loose in the kitchen.
Career
Television
In 2014, at the age of 17, Collison took part in the
fifth series of ''
The Great British Bake Off
''The Great British Bake Off'' (often abbreviated to ''Bake Off'' or ''GBBO'') is a British television baking competition, produced by Love Productions, in which a group of amateur bakers compete against each other in a series of rounds, atte ...
'' on
BBC One
BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...
. She is the youngest ever contestant in the show's history, making it to the quarter finals before being knocked out of the competition.
Martha has since appeared on ''
Bake Off: An Extra Slice'', as a guest on ''
Blue Peter'' and has presented for ''
Saturday Kitchen
''Saturday Kitchen Live'' is a British cookery programme, that is broadcast live on BBC One every Saturday between 10.00am and 11.30am produced by Cactus TV.
History
2002–2003
After a pilot hosted by Ainsley Harriott on 14 April 2001, the ...
''.
Writing
Collison has released two cookery books. The first, ''Twist'', was released on 14 July 2016,
and took simple, everyday recipes, such as chocolate cake and adapted them into new ones, like Chocolate and
Passionfruit Layer Cake, or Mint Chocolate Ice Cream Cake. The second book, ''Crave'', was published on 13 July 2017,
and split the recipes into chapters for various cravings, Chocolate, Caramel, Cheese, Citrus, Fruit, Nut, Spice and Alcohol.
She writes a monthly column for the
Waitrose
Waitrose & Partners (formally Waitrose Limited) is a brand of British supermarkets, founded in 1904 as Waite, Rose & Taylor, later shortened to Waitrose. It was acquired in 1937 by employee-owned retailer John Lewis Partnership, which still se ...
weekend newspaper
and runs a successful baking blog called "Baking Martha".
Radio
Collison currently holds the position of Show Chef on The Graham Norton Radio Show at Virgin Radio UK.
Personal life
Martha lives with her husband in Brighton, Sussex. They married in 2019, where several of the bakers from Collison's series of ''The Great British Bake Off'' were in attendance and baked cakes for a cake table.
She is a
Christian and has appeared at various faith-based festivals such as
Newday
Newday is an annual Christian youth festival for Churches from all denominations, initially organised by the Newfrontiers family of churches. Established since August 2004, the event is aimed at young people between the ages of 12 and 18.
Visi ...
,
Big Church Day Out South & North and WestPoint. She is also a charity ambassador for the charity
Tearfund
Tearfund is an international Christianity, Christian relief and development agency based in Teddington, UK. It currently works in around 50 countries, with a primary focus on supporting those in poverty and providing disaster relief for disadvan ...
, and has spent time in
Cambodia
Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailan ...
teaching young girls to bake
funnel cake
Funnel cake (Pennsylvania German: ''Drechderkuche'') is a regional sweet food popular in North America, found mainly at carnivals and amusement parks. It is made by deep-frying batter.
History
The concept of the funnel cake dates back to the ea ...
s.
She has also been to refugee camps in Lebanon with the charity to see Tearfund's work with those displaced due to conflict.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Collison, Martha
British bakers
British columnists
Living people
1996 births
The Great British Bake Off contestants
People from Ascot, Berkshire
British Christians