'Great British Baking Show' Winner Syabira Was Proud to 'Put Malaysia on the Map' with Her Bakes

Mar. 15, 2025

Photo: Mark Bourdillon / Love Productions

Syabira Yusoffis proud to be the newestGreat British Baking Showchampion.

On Nov. 17, theNetflix-distributed series dropped the season finale and named Syabira Yusoffthe winner— marking the first time a Malaysian-born contestant has ever won the show.

“It feels surreal and amazing at the same time. I came to the tent with a mindset to survive weekly,” she tells PEOPLE. “Ending up in the final and winning is the best outcome I could ever imagine.”

JudgesPrue LeithandPaul Hollywoodwere confident in Yusoff’s baking chops throughout the season. Known for her use of bold and innovative flavors, she won star baker an impressive three times and got a coveted handshake from Hollywood during Halloween week. Throughout the season, she worked to merge British classics with traditional Malaysian flavors.

“I am very proud to have put Malaysia on the map in terms of baking,” she says. “I loved sharing my ideas and my passion for integrating traditional Malaysian flavors into my bakes. For each bake I put on the table, I was proud.”

“I started baking as a cure for the homesickness I felt when I first moved to England. I had fallen in love with a slice of red velvet cake I’d had with my friends before leaving Malaysia,” she says. “Living alone and trying to write hundred pages of scientific research in English is not a walk in the park. So I tried to recreate that red velvet cake and discovered that I could bake. Since then, every time I struggle or feel sad I go into the kitchen and bake.”

WatchingGBBS —known in the U.K. asThe Great British Bake-Off—also inspired her to apply to the show. “I started watchingBake Offtwo or three years ago. I loved seeing what people created and started to wonder if I could do something similar. It is a very positive show, and it was love at first sight for me,” she says.

Netflix

As for her favorite final product in the show’s tent, Yusoff says one in particular let her scientific mind shine.

“I love my custard week showstopper, which I called ‘Piña Coladas, Anyone?’ I took it back to a simple flavor, but really tried to nail the taste and texture. This is when my lab skills came in handy,” she says. “Pineapple has an enzyme called bromelain that eats the protein in gelatine and ends up unsetting the custard. It took me a whole day in the kitchen to work out how much starch to use to make sure it wasn’t too gloopy, and just enough gelatin to make it wobbly.”

As the 2022 winner, Yusoff learned she loves baking and being in front of the camera. While she still continues to carry out her job as a cardiovascular researcher, she’s “super keen” to share her “ideas and aspirations in a cookbook, and the basics skills of baking [via a] YouTube channel.” Her future plans include growing herInstagram accountand working on a book in her downtime.

Along with breathing confidence into her kitchen skills, Yusoff made lasting friendships during the competition. “Everyone is my favorite in the tent.Januszis one of them, as well as Maxy and Kevin. We built relationships as the series went on,” she says of fellow competitors. “We keep in touch with each other via our WhatsApp group, and I am excited to see them every time we get together.”

Reflecting on herGreat British Baking Showjourney, Yusoff says it still feels like a dream.

“I never thought winningBake Offwas possible, at least not at my level of baking, before I won the show,” she says. “Every challenge has its own difficulty and requires new skills to master it. Overall, you just need to keep up and rise above the challenge to stay in the tent. And I think every baker managed to cope with the challenges every single time.”

The 2022 season and previous seasons ofThe Great British Baking Showare now streaming on Netflix.

source: people.com