Luis Troyano, the cheerful graphic designer who impressed fans with his creative bakes on series five of Great British Bake Off, has died. The news was confirmed by his management in a tweet that read, “Sadly, my lovely client lost his brave fight against Oesophageal cancer last week. A fantastic man with a love of baking that saw him get to the finals of GBBO, write a wonderful book, Bake It Great and do so much more. Always in our thoughts.” He was 48 years old.
Born and raised in Stockport, Troyano found joy in exploring his family’s Spanish heritage through creative baking. He entered the Great British Bake Off in 2014 and, as a person without a formal culinary arts background, was considered by many as an underdog. He ultimately proved that he was worth his salt when he made it all the way to the finale. After his season he wrote a book titled Bake It Great: Tips And Tricks.
Luis is survived by his wife Louise, who organized a fundraiser for Macmillan Cancer Support in his honor. On the page, she shares a parting message of gratitude from Luis to the medical professionals involved with his care: “A special thank you to Macmillan Cancer Support, East Cheshire Hospice and the NHS including Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust, The Christie NHS Foundation Trust and Stockport NHS Foundation Trust for trying to save my life and their tireless work to try and eliminate cancer. But more importantly a massive thank you to all the amazing professionals who really did try their absolute best for me, showed me absolute compassion and gave me more time than what was seemingly possible. I thank you sincerely.”
GBBO’s official Twitter shared a tribute to Troyano. “We are deeply saddened to hear that Luis Troyano has passed away,” the tweet reads. “It was a huge honour and pleasure to have him in the Bake Off Tent for Series Five. Our condolences and thoughts go out to his friends and family.”