Great British Bake Off star Dawn Hollyoak has passed away.
The former IT manager- who was the sixth person to be eliminated from the 2022 series of the baking competition – died aged 61, her family have announced.
Dawn’s cause of death is yet to be revealed.
Posting on Dawn’s official Instagram page @thebakerdawn, with the caption accompanying a beaming snap of the late star, the family wrote: ‘It’s with a heavy heart we announce the passing of our star baker Dawn.
‘Not only a wonderfully talented baker but first and foremost an amazing mother, grandmother, wife and friend. Dawn passed away peacefully surrounded by her family. We will miss her forever, but promise to continue her baking legacy!’
MailOnline has contacted Dawn’s representatives on the cause of her death.
Plenty of TV stars and fellow bakers took to the comment section to pay tribute to the talented baker.
Show judge Paul Hollywood was one of the first ones to fondly remember the beloved baker.
‘I’m so sorry to hear that, send my love to the family a lovely lady x,’ he added.
Carole Edwards, who appeared on the same series of the competition and was eliminated the week before Dawn, also paid tribute to her beloved friend.
She wrote: ‘I will miss my friend terribly, a beautiful and talented lady inside and out, fly high my friend, life just won’t be the same without you.
‘Sending all my love to the family. Xx.’
‘This is devastating news… I only met Dawn once, but I was blown away by her joyous personality and her infectious smile. She will be sorely missed, but will live in the heart of those who loved her forever!’, Giuseppe Dell’Anno, 2021 Bake Off winner, commented.
Baking star Dawn addressed an illness and said she was feeling ‘a bit poorly’ in what became her last Instagram post before she passed away, shared ten months ago.
She once again proved her astonishing talent sharing a very realistic lion-shaped cake prepared by her, as she wished good luck to the England’s women football team Lionesses.
The TV star wrote: ‘I’ve been a bit poorly since my lovely holiday but couldn’t resist posting a cake from my archive.
‘Lion cake to wish our girls the very best of luck today. @lionesses #womensfootball #lionesses #itscake #hypertealistic.’
Her followers raved over the stunning creation and rushed to overwhelm Dawn with sweet comments with some saying:
‘I hope you’re on the mend Dawn ❤️❤️❤️’; ‘Dawn, That is absolutely stunning’;
‘My goodness, Dawn, your lion is incredible!! Just watched cake week again for your season on GBBS. Your cake was so elegant, beautiful. Gasp-worthy. ❤️’;
‘Awesome!!’; ‘You’re very talented, that’s awesome’; ‘Hope you feel better soon lovely’;
The 13th series of ‘Great British Bake Off’ was won by Syabira Yusoff, who was joined in the final by Abdul Rehman Sharif and Sandro Farmhouse.
The beloved baker from Bedfordshire earned the judges’ praises for her baking crafts, but was eventually eliminated during Halloween Week on episode 6.
Dawn prided herself on her steady hand and attention to detail, especially when it came to the intricacy required for lace patterns on biscuits.
Her favourite flavours when baking were lemon, salted caramel and anything nutty.