What Great British Bake Off Winner David Atherton Is Up To Now

David Atherton showed off his baking talent on The Great British Bakeoff in 2019, clutching the win with a peachy picnic basket made of cakes and enriched bread. As reported by The Guardian, Atherton had a number of advantages in the tent, like his ability to remain calm and composed during the heated competition. The baker also revealed that there is much more to him than what made the season 10 edit. Atherton told The Guardian, "At the end, it showed me singing to myself and dancing around, but actually I did that the whole way through. I am calm and methodical, but I'm not particularly reserved."

David Atherton's Bake Off win was all the more impressive on account of the fact that he was a reserve contestant like fellow finalist,  Alice Fevronia. It's undeniable, though, that Atherton was at the top of his game as far as baking was concerned. In fact, he said that in many of the challenges, he'd always get done with baking much earlier than other contestants (via Vulture.) That left him with extra time to clean his workspace or bake cinnamon rolls for the crew.

Before he switched careers, Atherton was a health professional and a volunteer nurse who spent time working in locations like Malawi, East Africa (via VSO International.) Despite being very busy, Atherton left no stone unturned to practice baking whenever he could. Here's what the talented baker is up to these days.

As David Atherton once explained, he perceives himself to be a chef, rather than a baker, according to Vulture. When he was asked about his future plans after winning on the show, he said, "Call me crazy, but I want everything ... I wouldn't necessarily think baking is what I want to do, but rather food as a whole, and to link it to the work I do now as a health provider." He also said that he wants to motivate youngsters to bake a lot more and embrace healthy cooking.

After winning the show, Atherton has focused on spending a lot of time with his partner in London. The chef is openly gay and embraces his identity, despite having faced criticism and bigotry in the past (via The Advocate). He also continues to work on his love for baking, and in August 2020, the baker released a book for kids called My First Cook Book. Additionally, he also shares several tips for his followers on Instagram, dropping useful recommendations on making the most of cooking at home with wholesome ingredients. There's even more: his new book, Good to Eat is set to release later this year in May and features healthy recipes that are easy to incorporate into your everyday life.