In an exclusive photoshoot and interview in HELLO! magazine Great British Bake Off's Candice Brown tells how her love of baking is still as strong as it was when she won the series in 2016.
"It was my happy place, and it still is my happy place. Baking is the one thing I feel natural and good at, and can get completely absorbed in."
Now running her own pub, the Green Man in Eversholt, Bedfordshire, with her brother Ben, she reveals how her familiar face has surprised some of the customers.
"Sometimes people do recognize me and look shocked when I deliver their puddings personally," she says but for Candice it was always more than lending her name to the venture.
© Photo: HELLO!"I don't shy away from hard work, and I never wanted to just lend my name to this and then disappear."
Not only does she pull pints, change beer barrels and call time, she has also been waiting tables, sweeping floors and creating delicious puddings in the kitchen - sticky toffee pudding, banoffee roulade and Pimms jam Victoria sponge are among her specialities.
GALLERY: Candice Brown marries Liam Macaulay in star-studded ceremony
"I wouldn't want anybody to do something I wasn't prepared to do myself," she says.
© Photo: HELLO!Candice also reveals that she and her husband of almost one year, Liam Macaulay, and their three dogs Dennis, Albus and Sybil have moved into the flat about the pub. "This is completely natural for me, to live above a pub, more so than to live in a house. I love it. It’s a beautiful little flat and we've made it cosy and our own."
Candice and tree surgeon Liam Macaulay will be celebrating their first year of marriage next month, on 22 September. The pair celebrated their star-studded nuptials at Château de Varennes in Burgundy and for her big day, the bride chose a strapless duchess satin gown by Monique Lhuillier from Browns Brides. "There was no way I was going conservative on my wedding day," Candice exclusively told HELLO! of how she teamed the dress with a tartan Vivienne Westwood bag, her trademark scarlet lipstick and bright red jewelled shoes by Alexander McQueen.
© Photo: HELLO!Speaking about their dream venue, a luxury estate set amid the vineyards of Beaune in Burgundy, the bride revealed at the time: "We booked it without even going over to see it. It looked so incredible and I remember thinking: 'Even if it's not quite what we're expecting, it's nothing a few fairy lights and candles can't put right.'" When they did visit, two months before their ceremony, they knew there was no need to worry. "When we drew up, it was – wow, it was beautiful," Candice said.
MORE: Exclusive: Candice Brown exchanges her vows for the second time in gorgeous ceremony
The ceremony, witnessed by more than 100 family and friends, took place on the lawns, in the shadow of magnificent horse chestnut trees. "We always said we wanted to have our wedding outdoors and, because of Liam’s job, it seemed special to us to be surrounded by trees," shared the 34-year-old. "Walking with my dad from the main house down the pathway and across the grass to where Liam was waiting under the trees was magical. I needed those few minutes with my dad – he's my hero. I was squeezing so hard on to his arm." She added: "He's been waiting for this day since I was born, bless him, and as I walked towards Liam, looking so completely handsome, it was all I needed; just him there waiting for me."
