Ruby Tandoh

Ruby Alice Tandoh (born 1992) is a British baker, columnist, author, and former model. She was runner-up on series four of BBC's ''The Great British Bake Off'' in 2013 and has written four cookbooks. Her 2021 ''Cook as You Are'' was named to several best-of lists. Her sometimes strident online debates with much of the UK food world have also drawn attention.

Early life

Tandoh grew up in Southend-on-Sea, as the eldest of four siblings."My perfect weekend: Ruby Tandoh, Great British Bake Off finalist"
, ''The Telegraph'', 4 November 2013. Her father worked for the Royal Mail and her mother was a school administrator. Her paternal grandfather came from Ghana. To save money feeding a large family, they usually cooked from the vegetarian '' Moosewood Cookbook''.

Tandoh had an eating disorder as a teenager, which she describes as "akin to bulimia, with some binge-eating and anorexia on the side". For a while she was vegan – though she emphasizes that being vegan is not an eating disorder for everyone, she says that for her it was. Three years of this disorder led to a suicide attempt at the age of eighteen. She was admitted to a mental health ward but released after one day because she had good grades and "beautiful hair". The eating disorder continued for a total of six years, including throughout her university studies, and her ''Great British Bake Off'' appearance.

Tandoh studied philosophy and history of art at University College London, but left after four years without a degree.

''The Great British Bake Off''

Tandoh competed in the fourth series (2013) of ''The Great British Bake Off'' (GBBO) at age twenty, making her the youngest competitor in the series at the time. She reached the all-women final, with Kimberley Wilson and Frances Quinn.

Before the final episode, Tandoh was considered the favourite to win by London bookmakers. However she attracted noticeable antipathy among some viewers, especially online. These critics claimed that she got into the final by crying; or that she and judge Paul Hollywood were personally attracted to each other (enough that Hollywood had to make a statement that he thought Wilson prettier); or that she was too self-deprecating; or even that she hit back at her critics (calling one Twitter poster a "bitter old witch"). Sarah Ditum addressed most of these accusations in a defence of Tandoh in ''The Guardian''.

Tandoh became one of runners-up to Quinn, who made a three-tier wedding cake inspired by '' A Midsummer Night's Dream'' which the judges said "beat the other two guys hands down". After the conclusion, Tandoh published a much-cited editorial in ''The Guardian'' in which she hit back at the criticism that she encountered during the airing of the show, which she said was surprising, personal, and misogynist. For the fifth series (2014) of ''GBBO'', which included the youngest-ever contestant, seventeen-year-old Martha Collison, the BBC specifically warned contestants how to ignore online trolls in response to the unprecedented abuse that Tandoh received.

By 2021, Tandoh said that she could no longer watch the series, and though she still appreciated it as a show, the theme song made her feel sick.

Writing career

Tandoh has written several books: ''Crumb: The Baking Book'' (2014), ''Flavour: Eat What You Love'' (2016), ''Eat Up!: Food, Appetite'', ''Eating What You Want'' (2018), and ''Cook as You Are'' (2021). ''Eat Up!'' explores aspects of food culture, such as eating disorders (which Tandoh suffered from in her teenage years), the wellness craze, food snobbery, and pleasure of food.

''Eat Up!'' addresses culinary culture from a social justice point of view, including the colonialist origins of tea, the classism associated with sugar, and food-associated body shaming. It also covered the dangers of exclusion diets and eating disorders, encouraging the unconditional enjoyment of food. It met positive reviews from '' Kirkus Reviews'', which called it "engrossing", and a mixed one from '' i'' newspaper, which questioned its preferring tinned ingredients to raw ones. ''Eat Up!'' was a top ten '' Sunday Times'' bestseller in 2018.

Tandoh wrote for ''The Guardian'', but announced in June 2018 that she would stop, citing the "elitist" nature of the industry. By March the following year she was again writing occasional articles for the paper.

Along with her wife, Leah Pritchard, Tandoh published the one-off mental health zine ''Do What You Want'' in 2017. All profits from the zine go to charities and non-profits.

''Eater'' said that ''Cook as You Are'' "is an exercise in creating room for every kind of recipe and every kind of cook", noting the lack of any photography. Tandoh explained the decision to exclude photographs of food and kitchens as intentional, meant to encourage home cooks to assess their success at creating dinner "not by whether it matches up with a photo of a meal staged by a food stylist for a cookbook photo shoot". ''The Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' describes the book as "focus ngon flexible, mostly low-effort, daily cooking, with charming illustrations of various down-to-earth home settings". ''Publishers Weekly'' wrote, "For those seeking a no-fuss guide to feeding loved ones and themselves, this is a winner." The book was named to several best-of lists.

Twitter conflicts

Tandoh's often strident online criticisms of and conflicts with fellow chefs, often via Twitter tweets, have drawn extensive news coverage.

Before the 2013 finale of the ''Great British Bake Off'' that Tandoh was participating in, chef Raymond Blanc attacked Tandoh for her emotionality and thinness, tweeting that she was the presumed winner and her emotionality and thinness made him doubt her love for cooking or baking. Tandoh responded calling Blanc an idiot. After ''GBBO'' host Paul Hollywood questioned how Blanc knew who would be the winner of the show, Blanc apologized for being grumpy and a Frenchman writing English, and said he did not know who the winner would be.

In 2015, when Tandoh came out in a Twitter post, she included a mention of Hollywood, writing, "for those who thought I fancied Paul Hollywood or that I'd ever bang him to get ahead – JOKE'S ON YOU, YOU MASSIVE SHITTING MISOGYNISTS". This was in response to accusations that she had flirted with the judge to get ahead in the ''GBBO'' contest. Hollywood was not pleased by being mentioned this way. In 2016, when Hollywood announced he was moving ''GBBO'' from BBC
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