With Nadiya, Tamal and Ian competing against each other in the Great British Bake Off (GBBO) final, not only are we set for a tense evening of food porn, but also a moment of pride. The three finalists are emblematic of the successful multi-racial, multi-faith democracy of which we can all be proud.

Well, almost all of us. For some all this diversity seems to be too much. Take the Daily Mail columnist Amanda Platell, who recently took umbrage at Tamal’s sexuality, Nadiya’s religion, and Ian’s all-round loveliness. “Now we’re down to the final three, it’s certainly a PC triumph,” she wrote. “We are left with Muslim mum Nadiya Hussain, gay doctor Tamal Ray, and New Man Ian Cumming. Poor Flora Shedden never stood a chance. She was far too middle class — and was booted off this week after her chocolate carousel was deemed sub-standard. Perhaps if she’d made a chocolate mosque, she’d have stood a better chance.”

Platell hasn’t been the only one unimpressed by the final’s line-up. “England is a joke im watching the grate british bake off and one of those muslim women just won best cake what hapened to this country [sic]” one person tweeted last week. “Typical BBC. ticking all the ethnic boxes,got a muslim on the great “British” Bake off [sic]”, tweeted another. And they weren’t alone. Apparently, having a group of talented people who happen to fairly represent a diverse society can only mean one thing: it’s all a sham.

For anyone who doesn’t like the diversity of the GBBO final, and thinks that the contestants are only there because of “political correctness”, I would ask one question: why are you still here? If you don’t like diversity, then Britain is one of the last places you want to be. Although to be honest it sounds like you could benefit by simply moving somewhere a bit less white. According to research from Oxford University, living in diverse areas makes us more tolerant.

As someone with a great circle of friends of all races and religions, it leaves me baffled when anyone expresses a nostalgic longing for PC-free days. You know, the good old days when you could make offensive remarks about someone’s identity and not be called out on it. One of the funniest things is that those who are against political correctness often think they’re being patriotic, and preserving some sort of British ideal. But if there were such a thing as the “British values” that David Cameron always talks about (and uses to try and smear Muslims like myself), wouldn’t one of them be tolerance?

The Great British Bake Off 2015: Meet the 12 contestants Show all 12 1 /12 The Great British Bake Off 2015: Meet the 12 contestants The Great British Bake Off 2015: Meet the 12 contestants Nadiya, 30 Full-time mother of three Nadiya lives in Leeds with her husband. Born in Luton to a Bangladeshi family, she grew up wondering why her father only sold ice cream as a desert in his restaurant, as deserts aren’t a major mealtime in Bangladesh, so she soon got out a whisk to make her own BBC The Great British Bake Off 2015: Meet the 12 contestants Marie, 66 This year's oldest contestant, Marie was entered by her daughter who claims the baker couldn’t "even boil an egg" while she was growing up. The turning point was when she moved to Paris and was inspired by the patisseries. We’re expecting some amazing croissants BBC The Great British Bake Off 2015: Meet the 12 contestants Alvin, 37 Father of two, Alvin is originally from the Philippines but now works as a nurse in Berkshire. According to the BBC, he’s a true perfectionist who once repeatedly baked bread each day for three weeks until he got it just right BBC The Great British Bake Off 2015: Meet the 12 contestants Dorret, 53 Originally from the West Indies, Dorret actually grew up in Preston and now works as an accountant. She enjoys hosting dinner parties with her husband to “impress their friends with their skills” BBC The Great British Bake Off 2015: Meet the 12 contestants Flora, 19 The youngest baker in this year’s competition, Flora is an assistant at a contemporary art gallery and is currently waiting to start her history of art degree. Expect some tastefully arranged cakes BBC The Great British Bake Off 2015: Meet the 12 contestants Ian, 41 Travel photographer Ian lives with his wife and two children in Cambridgeshire. Recently, he’s become more of a house husband, making his family fresh bread every day, but that doesn't stop him being the Dalai Lama's personal photographer when he's in the UK BBC The Great British Bake Off 2015: Meet the 12 contestants Mat, 37 Fire Fighter Mat began baking three years ago in between work shifts and is a self-confessed “competent amateur” who “learns every time he bakes”. His ambition, apparently, is to one day own a dishwasher BBC The Great British Bake Off 2015: Meet the 12 contestants Paul, 49 Prison governor Paul sees being on the show as “an opportunity to show that men like me, stereotyped by our jobs do and can love baking and that it is a skill and talent to be proud of.” The Welshman also enjoys exploring the countryside with his wife and three sons BBC The Great British Bake Off 2015: Meet the 12 contestants Sandy, 49 Mother of one, Sandy is a child welfare officer who lives near Bradford. Describing her baking style bluntly, she said: “it might not be glamorous but it’s tasty” BBC The Great British Bake Off 2015: Meet the 12 contestants Stu, 35 Professional musician Stu has toured the world, and according to these photos, has a hat surgically attached to his head. The lead singer used to watch his parents in their restaurant and was amazed “how something liquid could go in and out would come this fluffed up awesomeness” BBC The Great British Bake Off 2015: Meet the 12 contestants Tamal, 29 Tamal’s parents moved from India to Hertfordshire in the 1960’s, his older sister soon teaching him to bake. He is now a trainee anaesthetist in Manchester, and once baked a five tier wedding cake BBC The Great British Bake Off 2015: Meet the 12 contestants Ugne, 32 Originally from Lithuania, Ugne’s main hobby may be baking but she is primarily a bodybuilder. She lives in Essex with her partner, also a bodybuilder, and two children. She's the one who said cake is a "nutritional sin" BBC

It makes me proud that my generation is working towards creating a more inclusive society that celebrates diversity, and the GBBO final is just one sign of that. We now have more BME MPs sitting in Parliament than ever before. Gay marriage is not just legal, but widely celebrated. H&M’s latest marketing campaign featurs a Muslim woman in a hijab, which would have been unimaginable a decade ago.

That’s not to say that Britain is perfect. People are still discriminated against for their ethnicities, sexualities and religions. Just this week, the nation watched on BBC Three as someone told me to “fuck off back to [my] own country” – whatever that means. (I had gone undercover on the show Is Britain Racist?, and upset someone with my clothes.) And in this year alone, homophobic crimes have gone up by a third, according to Scotland Yard.

But what is clear is that these hateful attitudes are on their way out. If you look at the shift in public attitudes over the last few decades, and how much more tolerant we’ve become as a society, the momentum towards equality would seem to be unstoppable. It will just take time and a bit more effort.

Maybe those who don’t like the make-up of the GBBO final are just scared of change. But when society is changing for the better, and becoming more representative, these people will only ever be wrong. There are no shades of grey when it comes to equality.