Jürgen from Great British Bake Off has stolen our hearts—and it's not just because he remind us of Winnie the Pooh

Jürgen from the Great British Bake Off is our favorite to win the season—this is why...

Jürgen from Great British Bake Off
(Image credit: Future/ Image Credit 1: Channel 4/ Image Credit 2: Art of Drawing / Alamy Stock Photo)

The Great British Bake Off is only four episodes in but already one of the contestants has captured the nation's attention—Jürgen Krauss.

Great British Bake Off Season 12 started with a bang and Jürgen Krauss has proved himself to be one of the strongest bakers in the tent. The baker set standards high when he won the star baker prize, twice in the first two weeks of the competition.

Jürgen's baking skills have put him in a competitive position amongst the Great British Bake Off 2021 contestants, but the baker himself is far from smug. The German baker has been adorably self-deprecating and humble since he started the show and his sweet demeanor has welcomed hordes of supporters.

It was revealed that the 56-year-old IT professional, who lives in Sussex, actually happened upon his baking passion purely by accident. Jürgen, who is from the Black Forest in Germany, struggled to find traditional German bread in his neighborhood and decided to try and make his own recipe. 

Soon enough Jürgen began his love affair with baking and hasn't stopped whipping up delish treats since!

Jürgen on the Great British Bake Off

(Image credit: Channel 4)

Jürgen won star baker in the Great British Bake Off's first and second episode. Traditionally when a baker wins the coveted award, the camera crew films their families reaction as the baker calls their loved ones and share the fantastic news.

Sadly for Jürgen, none of his family members picked up the phone and the first episode ended with a sad moment as the baker shrugged and suggested that perhaps nobody was home.

After his second award, fans waited with bated breath and they crossed their fingers and hoped that Jürgen might be able to speak to his family. 

We all breathed a sigh of relief when finally someone did pick up the phone and the baker was able to share his glorious news.

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Jürgen is endlessly endearing. Despite his impressive bakes and fancy icing work, the baker revealed in the show that he actually came from very humble beginnings.

In the second episode which was biscuit week in the tent, the bakers were tasked with building an edible toy. Jürgen revealed that as he grew up in a low-income household, he very rarely had any toys. He said in the show, "My brother and myself, we didn't have many toys because we grew up very poor."

The baker instead constructed a windmill as his final showstopper—complete with moving sails. He explained that this was modeled on the real windmills that his grandfather would make for him.

"My grandpa made some windmills, so we had a mini dutch windmill on a pole in the garden," he said.

Fans found this terribly sad and took to social media to share their feelings. "Got a tear in my eye when Jürgen said he was poor and didn't have many toys #gbbo," said one fan.

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Jürgen is softly spoken and endlessly polite to the other bakers in the tent. The baker also always seems to be surprised when things go well for him and has been very humble when receiving praise.

Fans have even fondly compared the baker to Winnie the Pooh. Although this might seem like a bizarre comparison to suggest that a fully grown man reminds us of a fictional children's teddy bear, the baker shares the bear's kind demeanor and love of sweet things, and they also might have the same eyebrows too...

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In the most recent episode for 'Dessert week' Jürgen delighted fans as he sang while Prue and Paul tried his dessert.

The baker chose to wrap his cake with a collar made out of hand-piped sheet music from a sixteen-century song written by Henry VIII. It was this tune that he sang to the judges as they tried his final dessert of the week.

The baker called his final showstopper, ‘Passtyme With Good Companye’ Imprimé Dessert.

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There is huge excitement about what Jürgen will whip up next as it was announced on Bake Off that next week is German week. 

This was announced in the last episode of Bake Off as Jürgen wished his fellow bakers luck in German. Although the group appreciated his well-wishes, the dead-pan joker then repeated the saying in English which hilariously translated to, "Break a leg and break a neck."

Although 'German week' means that there is immense pressure on the German baker to excel, and fans can't wait to see what the baker will create next.

The Great British Bake Off is available to watch online at Channel4.com with the next episode airing at 8 pm on Tuesday.

Laura Harman

Laura is the Entertainment Editor for woman&home who primarily covers television, film, and celebrity news. Laura loves drinking and eating and can often be found trying to get reservations at London's trendiest restaurants. When she's not wining and dining, Laura can also be found travelling, baking, and hiking with her dog.