"I guess that’s it for me then."
As The Great British Bake Off 2025 began on Channel 4 on Thursday, September 2, it saw the bakers tackle cakes.
However, it unfortunately transpired that it was a bad week for Hassan, and he thus became the first contestant to depart the tent.
For their signature bake, the bakers were tasked with producing a Swiss roll.
Hassan’s caramel was warm, and his bake therefore failed to maintain a structure.
Paul Hollywood described Hassan’s Swiss roll as having “fell out of a tree”.
In the technical challenge, the contestants had to produce a batch of nine fancy fondants. In this challenge, Hassan ranked in tenth place.
The judges and Hassan himself sensed that he could be in danger of being eliminated if he did not deliver in the showstopper.
For their showstopper, the bakers were asked to make a landscape cake.
Hassan opted to base his creation on a Japanese bamboo forest. However, his bake was termed simplistic, and he had timing issues.
Prue Leith also highlighted Hassan for having the “most disastrous signature”.
All of these events led Hassan to be eliminated from the competition.
The 30-year-old said he would “reflect and get back to baking”.
Off-screen, he said: “I think I am a bit upset, but I did expect it, though.
“Honestly, for my first ever bake in the tent to come out looking like that was appalling to say the least, for all the practice and work put into it.
“On the positive side, it tasted better than it looked.
“It didn’t come out as planned, but the worst thing was that it affected my baking after that.
“I enjoy the idea of the technical challenge, where you’re testing your own abilities against a challenge that you go into blind.
“But for this technical, we had no recipe.
“It was made trickier with the added fake ingredients, which added another layer of difficulty.
“I had a strong inkling I was out after the judging for my showstopper.”
“So, when I heard my name, I thought, ‘Damn, I guess that’s it for me then’.
“I remember Prue coming up to give us a big hug first, then turning left and having a huge queue of people lined up to give us a hug.
“The support from all of them felt reassuring to me and helped cheer me up a lot.
“In terms of my goals in the overall baking world, I don’t have any plans.”
Detailing his takeaway from the show, Hassan added:
“I guess the biggest takeaway is that I actually got onto the show.
“For me, I’m usually always interested in how things work, so being part of Bake Off gave me a big understanding and insight into TV work.
“How things all work and the effort that goes into developing a TV show like this with all the secrecy and background work involved.
“I feel my skills in recipe development, flavour combos, and ideas and creating bakes that fit a specific brief have drastically improved since being on Bake Off.
“There’s a lot of ideas I don’t think I would have ever done, unless I was on Bake Off and asked to create these bakes.”
“The Great British Bake Off is extremely challenging and can have a lot of ups and downs.
“But it’s a great way to push yourself out of your comfort zone, meet some amazing talented individuals, and be part of a unique opportunity.”
Hassan is of Pakistani origin and is an analytical and development scientist.
The Great British Bake Off continues on Tuesday, September 9, 2025, where the remaining bakers will test their skills on biscuits.
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