A SOUTHEND contestant was the first to be ousted from the eagerly anticipated new Great British Bake off

Peter Abatan, 52 from Southend was the first contestant to be voted out of the tent in Tuesday night’s opening show.

The IT programme manager fell to the bottom of the class in the signature challenge round after adding too much baking powder to his coconut cake, leaving show host Paul Hollywood experiencing a burning sensation on his tongue.

Speaking about the mishap Peter said: “I’d practised it three times before that first time in the tent and each time, it was perfect. It didn’t quite go to plan.”

Peter’s luck was still running low in the technical challenge as he mistakenly decorated 12 chocolate mini roles with a mixture of white and milk chocolate.

Unfortunately, he was unable to bring it back as the judges deemed his final illusion cake “too simplistic”.

Peter said; “I’m disappointed to be the first off, but it has been a lovely experience throughout. It was quite surreal from day one, and I wouldn’t change any of it for the world.

“No matter how far you go in the series, it’s still great to be part of the show. It doesn’t end for me on week one, as all of the bakers are my friends now, and they are amazing in their own way.”

Peter applied to the show back in series four but didn’t make it past the phone call stage. He said: “Whenever I have watched it in previous seasons, I’ve found myself shouting at the TV screen telling the other bakers to put more salt or flour in to make their bake better.

“My daughter Temi always wanted me to apply in previous years, and this year she let me know when the applications were open and really encouraged me to apply.

“Although I am the first baker to leave the tent it doesn’t mean it’s a bad experience. To be shortlisted from such a large list of applications and to be one of the 12 bakers to enter the tent was a huge personal achievement.”

Peter began baking eight years ago after buying a loaf of shop bread and falling ill.

He said: “I decided to make my own bread and soon I was hooked. Before long, my wife was telling me I was better than her.

“It started as a hobby and then it just grew and grew and I would spend lots of time in the kitchen.”

Peter moved to Nigeria with his parents at seven-years-old and later returned to England at the age of 24, said his time in the country encouraged him to experiment with coconut. He added: “With a Nigerian diet, you don’t really have much sweet and I have to say I am a big savoury fan when it comes to my own bakes.”

Last nights episode was the first to air since the programme parted ways with the BBC and viewers weren’t happy about the arrival of advert breaks.

One said: “I would only watch it on catch up so I can skip adverts.” Another said: “The adverts drove me mad.”