Great British Bake Off 2014: Is Richard Burr the Star of the Choux?

From week one there was a glint in Richard Burr's eye. The builder turned baker was ready for his moment. Who didn't love that nervous little titter he gave after each sentence, as if he was just becoming aware of his surroundings each time? Richard was up there with Nancy and Martha as my picks for the final on that first visit to the tent.

On his second week, Richard shone. From his praised Rosemary Seeded Crackers to pirate-themed showstopper, Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood couldn't hide their love for the North London family man. The Star Baker's sheriff badge was his for the first time.

After a week break, it was returned to Richard on week four's Dessert Week as he wowed both judges and viewers with his Tiramisu baked Alaska and Black Forest chocolate fondant.

With his trademark pencil behind the ear, where could it all go wrong for Richard?

Oh, the next week and the week after it seems. Paul and Mary spoke of the 'curse of the Star Baker', and it was back with a vengeance. European Cakes week almost saw his dream come to a shock end.

However, a somewhat controversial decision by the judges saw nobody leave. That wasn't before Richard and Kate were left hanging for several minutes as it was highlight just how close they had come to leaving. With three weeks of 'Star Baker' between them, two of the favourites were fighting for their place. This was Bake Off at its best.

So we arrived at Pastry Week knowing that anyone could be going home. As I discussed in last week's blog, one mistake would cost a baker their place.

Sadly for Kate, it was a case of one mistake after another. The Brighton-based, mum of one was dispatched from the tent, as the rest searched for life-jackets amid Martha's tears.

With his magical Stair of Eclair and first place success in the technical challenge, Richard was back in the game. Having come close to crashing out of the competition, Nancy and Luis could only look on as the Badge made it's way back to complete a hat-trick.

The achievement making him the first to achieve the title three times in the seven weeks - narrowly beating Ruby Tandoh's third win on week eight in 2013.

So where does this leave Richard now; Will it all fall apart if the 'Curse' returns with a vengeance in the quarter-final? Or has our three-time champion now got the momentum to go all the way?

Nancy, Luis, Chetna and Martha will all have something to say about that next time, and as Ruby discovered last year, anything can happen in those final three weeks. It's this edge-of-your-seat drama that has 10 million of us tuning in.

While our Mary is causing bomber jackets to sell-out, there have not been any reports of a sales increase in pencils. Sorry Richard, we love you, but unless the pencil doubles as a whisk, it's just not going to happen.

[Great British Bake Off Episode Six: Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood Reach A Shock Stalemate]

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