What are the Great British Bake Off winners up to now?

With Candice Brown visiting Radio 2 this week for some Breakfast with Chris Evans, it got us thinking about showstoppers, technicals, and signature challenges past.

We know that they baked up a treat inside that infamous white marquee, but what exactly have The Great British Bake Off winners been up to since? From breaking and making world records to whipping up cook books aplenty, here's what the GBBO champs have achieved away from the big white tent...

It was a whopping seven years ago that The Great British Bake Off graced our screens and changed our summer viewing habits (and, perhaps, eating habits) forever.

Drawing in three million viewers, the first GBBO final saw Edd Kimber crowned the first ever marquee champ. Formerly a debt collector ("I used to spend most of my time looking up recipes online," Edd told The Telegraph. "I’m surprised they didn’t fire me”), Edd was rejected by his local catering college before baking up a treat in the Bake Off tent.

Since beating off stiff competition to bag the first Bake Off title, Edd has published three books (Say It With Cakes; The Boy Who Bakes and Patisserie Made Simple), hosts the Stir The Pot podcast and posts recipes and updates to his website, also named 'The Boy Who Bakes'. He's taught macaroon making classes, appeared as the resident baker on The Alan Titchmarsh Show and ran a pop-up bakery. In short: he's a busy guy.

Speaking to The Telegraph, Edd explained the reason behind his blog name: “Well, I am a boy and I do bake. I wanted to make it clear that anyone can bake. In the past it’s been associated with housewives and the Women’s Institute; but these days you get bakers from all walks of life.”

You can find some of Edd's recipes on BBC Food

A year later and a million more viewers (four million in total) saw Joanne Wheatley win over Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood with her perfect petit fours and bagging the coveted cake stand.

Since that fateful day, Jo has racked up quite the extensive cookery CV. From performing a cookie masterclass on daytime telly to running a cookery school in Essex to publishing two books (A Passion For Baking and Home Baking) and running her own website, Jo’s Blue Aga, it's safe to say that Joanne hasn't slowed down since departing the tent in 2011.

"When I won, I had 15,000 emails in a week," Jo told the Radio Times. "My cookery classes sold out with a six-month waiting list. I had 13 publishers in a bidding war for my first book. I’d never imagined even writing a book, let alone having a bidding war. It changed my life massively and I’m grateful about it every single day.

You can find some of Jo's recipes on BBC Food

If John's face seems oddly familiar, it's because the third Bake Off winner has enjoyed his fair share of TV gigs since taking the crown in 2012.

From This Morning to Sunday Brunch; the former banker hasn't stopped on his mission to teach us how to bake as brilliantly as he does.

Graduating with a first-class law degree from the University of Manchester shortly after filming began for the Bake Off, John pursued his passion for baking post-GBBO by earning a patisserie diploma from Le Cordon Bleu.

Much like Jo, John went on to open Whaite's Kitchen Cookery School, as well as holding bakery classes from the comfort of his own kitchen. Add three books to that equation (John Whaite Bakes; John Whaite Bakes At Home and Perfect Plates in 5 Ingredients) and a chocolate shop (The Hungry Dog Artisan Chocolates) and you've got one accomplished baker.

You can find some of John's recipes on BBC Food

By now we've established that the winners of the GBBO have gone on to do pretty huge things, but arguably none bigger than Frances Quinn's latest accomplishment - literally speaking - as she's recently baked the world's biggest Jaffa Cake.

Consisting of 120 eggs and 20kg of chocolate, Frances's Jaffa Cake was an impressive 4ft in diameter; making her not only a Great British Bake Off champ but also a Guinness World Record Holder.

Speaking to The Sun, Frances explained the inspiration behind her latest cake-based accolade: “I got the idea when there was a debate about whether Jaffa Cakes are biscuits or cakes. It took a lot of planning.”

But that's not all that the series 4 winner has done since leaving the marquee. Frances has been featured in Vogue, baked for the likes of Clare Balding and Quentin Blake and released a book titled Quintessential Baking.

You can find some of Frances' recipes on BBC Food

Before taking part in the fifth series of the beloved baking show, and despite the former contestants' success, Nancy Birtwhistle still didn't anticipate the attention: "I hadn’t appreciated the power of TV. You’re not prepared for 15 million people watching," she told the Radio Times. "I became recognised from the Shetland Islands down to Cornwall. Before Bake Off I was a practice manager for the NHS and people used to glaze over when I said what I was doing. After Bake Off, everyone wanted to hear what I had to say.”

Beating Luis Troyano and Richard Burr in the final, Nancy received her fair share of attention as 10.04 million tuned in to watch her win. Her success has continued as she contributes to The Telegraph, as well as featuring in cookery shows up and down the UK.

While Nancy's yet to release a cookery book, it's something that could well be on the horizon: “I would love to write a cookery book. I would like to pass on all the things I have learnt to others," Nancy told the Yorkshire Post. "I think we are duty bound to do that.”

You can find some of Nancy's recipes on BBC Food

Perhaps the biggest success story of Bake Off so far, Nadiya Hussain took the title in the sixth series and gave us one of the most memorable winner's speeches to boot: "I'm never going to put boundaries on myself ever again. I'm never going to say I can't do it. I'm never going to say maybe. I'm never going to say I don't think I can. I can and I will."

But while life inside the tent might have been fast-paced, it seems that life post-tent might be even more so for Nadiya. She's baked a cake for the Queen's 90th birthday celebrations, regularly appeared on The One Show, starred in her own two-part series, The Chronicles of Nadiya, writes a weekly column for The Times and has penned a mind-blowing five books (three of which were kid's books)!

As if that wasn't enough, Nadiya will be also co-presenting The Big Family Cooking Showdown, alongside Zoe Ball, and fronting Nadiya's British Food Adventure later in 2017.

You can find some of Nadiya's recipes on BBC Food

Prior to embarking upon The Great British Bake Off, Candice Brown was a Bedfordshire-based P.E. teacher with a penchant for pastries. After taking home the world's most talked about cake stand, Candice hung up her P.E. trainers and pursued a full-time career in baking.

Her baking book, Comfort: Delicious Bakes and Family Treats, is released later this month, but that's not all that Candice has been cooking up since finishing Bake Off in October 2016. She's a columnist for The Sunday Times, made countless TV appearances and headlined at Tom Kerridge's 'Pub in the Park'. (And we've no doubt that she's added to that unforgettable lipstick collection of hers.)

You can find some of Candice's recipes on BBC Food