Which Great British Bake Off winner is the most successful ‘foodfluencer’?

Which winner’s cakes are worth the most on social media?

• A new study from Jeffbet.com analysed the social media profiles of former GBBO winners to reveal the most influential stars
• The data revealed 2015’s Nadiya Hussain as the winning baker with the highest potential social media earnings overall
• 2013 winner John Whaite is the most Googled star with 70,000 monthly searches

As the 2022 series of The Great British Bake Off has officially kicked off, entertainment experts from Jeffbet.com analysed the social media profiles of the 12 previous winners to find out who is the most influential and who has the highest potential social media earnings after leaving the show.

Collecting data including the number of Instagram and Twitter followers, engagement rates, retweets, estimated post earnings, and the number of average monthly Google searches, the experts collated the findings into a weighted rank, revealing the most successful ‘foodfluencers’.

So, whose cakes are earning the most from each post? And, who’s suffering from a soggy bottom? Let’s find out…

The most successful Great British Bake Off winners on social media

Name	Year on show	Google Searches	Twitter followers	Insta followers	Engagement rate	£ per Tweet	£ per Insta post	Total Score
Nadiya Hussain	2015	68,000	245,200	859,000	0.97	£2,633.94	£3,726.87	100
John Whaite	2013	70,000	0	301,000	2.06	£0.00	£1,305.46	92.2
David Atherton	2019	4,300	29,100	150,000	4.41	£322.67	£650.81	90.7
Rahul Mandal	2018	3,800	3,278	382,000	2.4	£38.03	£1,649.65	90.04
Candice Brown	2016	24,000	93,300	267,000	0.65	£1,014.30	£1,156.84	77.27
Edd Kimber	2010	40	43,200	403,000	0.47	£470.21	£1,740.04	71.07
Giuseppe Dell’Anno	2021	13,000	46,100	241,000	1.06	£503.02	£1,732.22	69.62
Peter Sawkins	2020	6,100	0	252,000	1.93	£-	£1,091.65	59.8
Nancy Birtwhistle	2014	6,200	42,800	190,000	0.65	£465.86	£815.91	47.33
Sophie Faldo	2017	7,300	21,000	43,100	3.25	£-	£316.15	39.47
Frances Quinn	2012	5,100	45,700	79,000	0.26	£497.15	£454.57	26.61
Joanne Wheatley	2011	5,100	24,900	27,300	0	£273.78	£196.65	15.79

2015 winner, Nadiya Hussain, takes first place as the most successful baker on social media with 245,200 Twitter followers, 859,000 Instagram followers, and a staggering 68,000 average monthly Google searches globally. Factoring in the average engagement rate and earnings per post, she ranked the highest in comparison to the other former winners.

With a string of TV appearances since winning the show, it’s no surprise to see Nadiya win star baker in this study. She has her own BBC TV show ‘Nadiya Bakes’, is a guest presenter on Loose Women, not to mention she’s also a contributing editor to BBC Good Food magazine.

However, following closely behind is 2013 winner, John Whaite, who also receives a staggering number of Google searches (70,000) and has 301,000 Instagram followers. However, despite this, the star does not have a Twitter account after he deleted it in August 2021, after the news broke he would be appearing on Strictly Come Dancing.

Next on the list is David Atherton who won GBBO in 2019. And despite not having the highest number of social media followers, he does have the highest engagement rate (4.41%) suggesting fans are keen to engage with the star. Since the bread-baking buff won the Bake Off final, he released a cookbook for children, My First Cook Book, regularly writes for The Guardian and has since published two more healthy eating cookbooks.

Rahul Mandal from 2018 also makes the top five. He has the second highest number of Instagram followers (382,000) meaning he could earn a whopping £1,649 from a single post. However, despite this, Rahul only has 3,800 Twitter followers, meaning he’s missing out on a huge following.

Interestingly, unlike most of our winners, Rahul returned to his first profession and currently works as an engineering researcher at University of Sheffield. However, he’s still clearly an avid baker, as you’ll only find delicious food pics on his Instagram grid.

2016 winner Candice Brown is next up, followed by the very first Bake Off winner Edd Kimber, who despite having one of the highest follower counts overall (403,000) receives the lowest number of Google searches with just 40 per month on average.

As we move further down the list, we see last year’s winner Giuseppe Dell’Anno, followed by Peter Sawkins from 2020, who despite having stolen the hearts of viewers with his sweet charm, doesn’t have a Twitter profile for fans to engage with.

Frances Quinn and Joanne Wheatley are in the bottom two with the lowest engagement scores, suggesting fans aren’t tapping their posts with a heart.

The Great British Bake Off Social Media Rich List

When it comes to whose cakes are worth the most cash on social media, Nadiya Hussain reigns supreme. She’s the highest earner on Instagram, making up to £3,726.87 per sponsored post, and her Twitter earnings are a cut above the rest, with a paid for post worth up to £3,080.

2021 winner Giuseppe Dell’Anno has the second highest combined social earning power, with the ability to charge an estimated £1,732 for a sponsored Instagram post, and just over £500 for a paid tweet. Edd Kimber from 2010 is just behind him in third, thanks to an Instagram profile worth £1,740 for a sponsored post, and a tweet costing £470.

Name	Earnings per Instagram post	Twitter post Earnings	Combined social earnings
Nadiya Hussain	£3,726.87	£2,663.94	£6,390.81
Giuseppe Dell’Anno	£1,732.22	£503.02	£2,235.24
Edd Kimber	£1,740.04	£470.21	£2,210.25
Candice Brown	£1,156.84	£1,014.30	£2,171.14
Rahul Mandal	£1,649.65	£38.03	£1,687.67
John Whaite	£1,305.46	£0	£1,305.46
Nancy Birtwhistle	£815.91	£465.86	£1,281.78
Peter Sawkins	£1,091.65	£0	£1,091.65
David Atherton	£650.81	£322.67	£973.48
Frances Quinn	£454.57	£497.15	£951.72
Joanne Wheatley	£196.65	£273.78	£470.43
Sophie Faldo	£316.15	£0	£316.15