HULL'S Great British Bake Off contestant Nancy Birtwhistle has told how she was grilled by psychotherapists to prepare her for life in the national spotlight.
Grandmother-of-eight Nancy, 60, is through to the semi-finals of the BBC One show, despite a lacklustre performance in the tent this week.
In an interview with the Mail, she says BBC bosses went to great lengths to look after the welfare of its contestants who are enjoying almost celebrity status.
Nancy, who left her east Hull and Hessle roots for Barton in 1999, has revealed all contestants were carefully vetted, with their characters explored to ensure they did not crack under the pressure or create headlines in the tabloids.
She said: "At the start, we all saw a psychotherapist. They wanted to know if we could handle the pressure that's involved.
"You were not allowed any cooking qualifications. You had to be an absolute amateur.
"There were long chats. References were checked and we all had to be CRB checked to ensure we were who we said we were.
"We were asked, 'Is there anything about you that someone watching the show could take to the newspapers?'"
Filming ended in June, but the final will not be aired until Wednesday, October 8.
Until this week, viewers have seen Nancy as one of the show's most consistent bakers.
However, on Wednesday fans saw judge Paul Hollywood brand her decision to microwave her fruit loaf dough to speed-up the proving process as "dangerous".
Fellow judge Mary Berry, however, was impressed with her Lincolnshire plum braid and described it as "scrumptious".
Nancy was able to claw back in the bakers' technical challenge, coming a respectable third in their task of making a Croatian povitica.
For the final showstopper challenge, Nancy responded to Mary's reminder that she and Paul were "looking for ambition".
Nancy dished-up doughnuts flavoured with limoncello for adults and chocolate- orange ones for children. Mary described them as "absolutely lovely", while Paul told Nancy: "You're good on your flavours".
During a visit to Hull City's Cottingham training ground earlier this week, season pass holder Nancy joked that her fellow contestants often poked fun at her broad Hull accent.
At the end of this week's show, viewers were given a snapshot of the semi-final.
Nancy was shown saying, "I think I have messed up here."
The retired GP practice manager, who is sworn to secrecy and can't reveal further details about next week's show, said she loved every minute of The Great British Bake Off experience.
She said: "It was the best thing I have ever done."
Tune in to BBC 1 at 8pm on Wednesday to see if she has done enough to earn a place in the final.
