Adding a spooky touch to things brings me immense joy and it has become a daily personal challenge (Picture: Channel 4)

Halloween is a lifestyle, not just a holiday. At least for some of us.

I first experienced Halloween in its full glory when I was an exchange student at a high school in Las Vegas.

Throughout October the school was fully decorated and everyone came to class in costume, including the teachers. The houses on the street I lived on had their garages open and were decorated as haunted houses. The stores were bursting with pumpkins, sweets, skeletons and pointy hats.

I was hooked.


I tend to see beauty where others see darkness and I try to apply this to what I wear, what I bake, how I decorate my home etc.

For example, I have an extensive collection of antique cauldrons and am always on the hunt for unusual ones in charity shops, car boot sales or antique stores.



Adding a spooky touch to things brings me immense joy and it has become a daily personal challenge.

Twelve years on from my time in the States, I have just taken over a beautiful Victorian apothecary, filled with potions and lotions, mahogany cabinets and crystal chandeliers. It is the perfect place to let my spooky designs run wild.

I have a personal goal of turning this holiday, which in this country is often seen as tacky and distasteful, into a stylish and sophisticated one.

It’s not about the plastic or commercial part of the holiday, I want people to embrace the season in the long term! It is certainly present in everything I do.

Humans have always had a fascination with death and the occult, and Halloween allows us to normalise this. It’s a shame that something that used to be so prevalent in literature, art and popular culture has lost its way.

I researched the roots of Halloween, only to discover that I was wrong in assuming it was manufactured in America. In fact, it was a Celtic tradition.

From there, everything started to make sense. My grandfather was from Celtic Galicia where they wear kilts, play bagpipes, and having red hair is not uncommon. They dance jotas, which are similar to the Irish Riverdance, and they have a rich history involving witches.

This was back in 2008 and it was from this moment on I felt emboldened to live my life as if every day was Halloween.

It meant I travelled and took part in pagan celebrations related to it throughout the year, like Witches’ Night in Germany or the Czech Republic, celebrated in April. In June, I saw San Juan in La Coruña, Spain. Even Easter in Scandinavia involved witches – and Christmas in Italy.

If spooky is what you’re after, spooky is what you will find.

When it came to applying for Bake Off, I was keen to represent the dark side, something that I thought had been lacking from the mainstream show (minus Noel Fielding!). I was genuinely shocked when I received the phone call telling me I was in the final 13.

Entering the tent on our first day of filming I felt confident the goths, misfits, and self-proclaimed weirdos would get behind me. What I did not expect was for everyone else to, too.



I didn’t use Twitter at the time, so during the first episode my husband was on #GBBO watch. When he shouted ‘Oh my God’ while scrolling, I was fully prepared for the abusive comments, but instead I was getting one positive comment after another.

My name was trending! Sure, my ‘furry garden’ helped in that episode, but it happened during the next one, and then the next.

The general public, just like my friends and family, had not only accepted me, but felt inspired to be themselves, no matter what. Writing this brings tears to my eyes, for there’s no better sentiment.

It goes without saying that I am excited for Halloween this year; I have been planning my costume for months.

I’ve actually developed a little tradition of my own and I dress as a different type of witch each year. I’ve dressed as a flamenco witch, with chattering teeth instead of castanets, a witch on the beach, a 60s witch… and this year’s witch definitely has something to do with my Bake Off experience.

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