The Heartbreaking Death Of The Great British Baking Show Finalist Luis Troyano

The runner-up of the fifth season of The Great British Baking Show Luis Troyano has passed away (via Fox News). The 48-year-old's death was announced by his agent Anne Kibel, who tweeted early Tuesday morning, "Sadly, my lovely client lost his brave fight against Oesophageal cancer last week." She continued, "A fantastic man with a love of baking that saw him get to the finals of GBBO, write a wonderful book, Bake It Great and do so much more. Always in our thoughts."

Fans of the reality baking competition may remember Troyano's run in 2014, when he came in second place to winner Nancy Birtwhistle. She shared her condolences by tweeting, "My friend — SO young, SO talented, SO funny and SO kind. RIP Luis." The show itself also extended condolences, tweeting, "We are deeply saddened to hear that Luis Troyano has passed away. It was a huge honour and pleasure to have him in the Bake Off Tent for Series Five. Our condolences and thoughts go out to his friends and family."

Troyano's wife Louise set up a Just Giving page to benefit MacMillan Cancer Support in his memory. The baker himself shared a message on the page that said in part, "A massive thank you to all the amazing professionals who really did try their absolute best for me, showed me absolute compassion and gave me more time than what was seemingly possible" (via Us Weekly).

Fans flooded social media to share their sadness over the passing of Troyano. "Such a lovely, happy and kind man. You'll be missed by many," one shared. Another tweeted, "Rest in peace, sir. Your bakes truly inspired me. Your upbeat attitude uplifted me." Many sentiments echoed disbelief that the baker had passed away at such a young age, with fans calling out Troyano's talent and positivity. The Bake It Great author will clearly be missed by former colleagues, friends, family, and fans. Here's hoping they find some peace in knowing how special he was to so many people, and how fondly he will be remembered.