Freya Cox: Scarborough’s vegan baker reacts to the free-from episode of Great British Bake Off

Warning: Article contains spoilers about the latest contestant to be eliminated.

It was free-from week on Channel 4’s Great British Bake Off quarter final on November 9 at 8pm, which means that there were gluten-free, meat-free and dairy-free challenges in the tent - Freya Cox’s specialty.

So naturally, viewers expected Freya, the first vegan contestant in the show’s history who was eliminated on episode 5 (German Week), to react - which she did.

Ahead of the episode, Freya, who is from Scarborough, described to her 47,100 followers on Instagram the day she was inspired to go vegan:

“I had loads of messages asking how/why I originally decided to go vegan, so thought I’d talk about that since it’s free-from week!” she said.

“**If you hate hearing about vegan shabang, feel free to not read the rest as I’m not trying to be preachy and it’s not my place to tell anyone what to do**”

“About two years ago I was with my friends who were vegan/veggie and I was getting a chicken burger. They said to me, ‘You know an animal died for that’ and all of a sudden [I] felt horrendous.”

“Then I couldn’t stop thinking about it, and learnt to understand how horrific the dairy industry is too. So, I decided to give it a go, and at first I wasn’t particularly committed. I just ate vegan [meals] here and there. Then a month later I realised I, quite frankly, had no valid reason to be eating animal products at all.”

Freya went on to give some much needed advice to her followers who didn’t know where to start with veganism.

“I adore animals and my heart breaks at the thought of what they go through, and nowadays pretty much everyone is aware that going vegan is so beneficial for the environment,” she added.

“But I am very aware it’s not an ‘all or nothing’ situation; if you decide to just eat a vegan [meal] once a week instead of not at all, then you’re making a difference.

“I appreciate each and every person who says after seeing me on the show that they are going to give it a go. Hats off to you all, thank you x”

Then following the result of last night’s episode, Freya again took to Instagram to express her love for the contestant who was eliminated.

For her showstopper last night, Lizzie Acker decided to pay tribute to her journey with Special Educational Needs (SEN) and described her cake as ‘organised chaos’. The cake was very well received by judges, Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith.

Lizzie was diagnosed with multiple SEN - dyslexia, dyspraxia, ADHD and Concentration Disorder.

Despite blowing judges, contestants and viewers away with her masterpiece showstopper, she was the one eliminated from the show. Although Paul admitted it was a tough call between her and Crystelle Pereira.

Freya, having formed a close bond with Lizzie throughout the show and outside of it, reacted to the elimination on Instagram.

“Sorry for the double post today but we all know I couldn’t not [post] when it comes to tonight’s episode,” she said.

“When I arrived at Bake Off, I saw Lizzie get out of her car with a towel on her head and I’m pretty sure that’s the reason I knew we were going to be pals. Everyone thought we arrived together because we were just friends from the start.

“Lizzie makes life a better place for everyone, whether it’s a bad day or good. I feel so inspired by her ability to be herself no matter what.”

Freya opened up about life after Bake Off with Lizzie and her family.

“I practically live in her house now and feel like part of her family… I mean, it doesn’t get much more committed than matching tattoos,” she said.

“I feel blessed everyday to be your friend.”

Two contestants, Giuseppe Dell’Anno and Chigs Parmar, who have gone through to the semi-finals, commented on her post.

“You guys are truly inspirational. Love you both,” Giuseppe said.

“Two of my favourite ladies xx” Chigs said.