Wigan bake-off winner John Whaite relaunches his bakehouse - big style!

Wigan kitchen craftsman John Whaite is back doing what he does best as his life begins a significant new chapter.

For the 37-year-old Great British Bake-Off winner and Strictly finalist will tomorrow (Saturday October 31) relaunch at Cedar Farm, Mawdesley, a bigger and better version of the bakehouse that he ditched only at the beginning of this year.

But he says that this time it will be different because he has a hand-picked team of experts in his team while his sister Jane, who also pitches in with baking, will be front of house.

This evening (October 20) John gave Wigan Today a tour of his impressive new set-up in the large former premises of the Rufford Printing Company.

He has spent a hefty sum on doing the place up and bringing in the highest spec equipment to create all kinds of magical pastries and other delights while new recruit Hayley England is helping the business explore new areas with a range of artisan breads including her specialist sourdoughs.

John’s husband Paul is again key to the operation, while another newcomer, Rob Woods, comes to the business as both a baker and sushi maker!

It’s been a difficult couple of years for John who in 2025 admitted to battling steroid addiction and was then injured in a car smash before abandoning his smaller bakehouse operation at Cedar Farm because he was trying to do too much himself.

He said: “First time round it didn’t work out because it had to be my way or the highway and I got burnt out. I was trying to control the whole thing. I needed to hand over the reins to other people sometimes.

“Paul just told me to go and take a break so I did the Camino de Santiago, this 500-mile pilgrimage in Spain during the heatwave.

“It gave me the chance to breathe and I did it in aid of Suicide Prevention because I had been suicidal myself a while back. I thought I might raise five or six thousand pounds but I ended up raising £40,000 which was brilliant and shows just how many people are prepared to dig deep for this kind of cause.

“I came back ready to give it another go, but this time with a different approach: pick people who were better than me so they could teach me things too and we could share the load.

“I have not mollycoddled them. In fact I deliberately sabotaged some things during training to see if they would learn from these mistakes and rise to the occasion - and they did so brilliantly.

“Today has been very stressful and busy but but everyone has remained calm. We’ve got a great team here.”

Jane handed in her notice as an assistant teacher at Heskin Pembertons Primary School after discovering her brother was going back into the bakehouse, determined to help the project work, as well as channel her own inner baker.

As for the new recruits (both aged 29), Hayley said: “I come from Kenya and more recently from Nottingham and hadn’t a clue who John was which was a bit embarrassing, especially when friends back in Africa did.

“But he he has been wonderful: a great teacher. I have been in the baking industry on and off for six years and have been used to working in large volumes.

“Here it’s more about quality over quantity and the pace is slower which is great. I’ve really hit it off with Rob and love working here.

“John is very hands on too. He doesn’t sit at his desk all day but is right at the heart of all the creativity.”

Rob said: “I have only been here a couple of weeks and this is already one of the best jobs I have ever had. All the guys here are gems.

“It has been a real rollercoaster of emotions and I have learnt so much.

“I am more like a pastry chef and this is my first time in a bakery. I’ve always wanted to be in one that did croissants and the like. It’s brilliant to learn all these techniques and tricks that make the foods a cut above the rest.

“Working here is a dream come true.

“And John is a man of so many talents. He seems to excel at whatever he turns his hand to. He’s brilliant at social media as well as everything else.”

So what about life on television for the boss?

John said: “I’ve packed that in now. I did it for 14 years and I think in the end I was just too sensitive.

“And in any case I did Only Fans - which helped to raise the money for this place - so having done that adult stuff there’s not really a way back for me even if I did want to do more of it.

“But it’s great to be back at Cedar Farm. You couldn’t ask for better landlords. When we closed in January, the owners were really good with us; they gave us a cuddle and said ‘just take your time and do what you want.’

“And so here we are! People often used to ask if we did bread first time round, but the old place was too small and we had to do all our brownies at the bakery in Wrightington. But now we have consolidated under one, very big roof.”

The Ruff Puff Bakehouse is open from Thursday to Sunday from 10am to 5pm (although it may close sooner on days when they run out!)