Great British Bake Off: Brighton's Janusz wins star baker

Janusz Domagala, from Brighton, blew judges Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith away with his home-inspired cake showstopper, which saw him secure star baker in last night’s first episode of the Channel 4 hit.

The personal assistant to a head teacher in East Sussex, Janusz grew up in Poland and moved to the UK ten years ago.

He lives with his boyfriend, Simon, and their sausage dog, Nigel, who got his own cameo during the episode.

The new batch of keen amateur bakers were set three cake challenges.

The contestants on the new series of The Great British Bake Off (Image: Channel 4)

Firstly, for their signature, they had to create 12 identical mini sandwich cakes, then, for the technical challenge, they were tasked with making a red velvet cake.

Read more:Meet the Sussex contestant ready to battle it out for the Bake Off crown

And finally, they had to create a 3D replica of somewhere they had lived that had special meaning to them.

For his signature, Janusz made a pistachio and cherry vodka liqueur wuzetka, which divided opinion among the judges.

Janusz in the tent (Image: Channel 4)

Prue thought his cakes were “perfect”.

“It’s a lovely sponge,” she said.

“And boozey.

“It’s perfect.”

However, Paul said there was “too much booze".

Next in the technical Janusz placed a respectable seventh place.

But it was the showstopper of his mother’s flat that cemented his win.

“It was a very sad block of flats but I could always tell where my mum was because it was the only balcony with flowers,” he said.

The judges praised Janusz for the level of detail in his decoration and said the chocolate cake was “utterly delicious”.

The judges said the showstopper was "utterly delicious" (Image: Channel 4)

After winning he said it meant “everything to him” and hurried outside the tent to share the good news with his boyfriend.

He told cameras: “I’ve cried so many times. I think my boyfriend will be really proud and will say, ‘you can make cake and I’ve told you you can make cake’.”

On the phone to Simon he said: “I just wanted to tell you that I won star caker in the bake week.”

The blunder was followed by a giggle from the emotional baker.