Local Great British Bake Off star takes time off social media amid "severe" bout of depression

Jon Whaite shortly after his win in 2012 at St James' The Great Church in Wrightington

The 2012 winner, who is from Wrightington, has taken to Twitter to tell them he was “signing off” for a while.

Whaite, 30, has received a huge wave of support after talking about his long-term mental health struggles.

He has also been publicly supported in the past, most recently in August when he launched an appeal to help him find his sister who went missing in Portugal.

She was later found and returned home at which point Whaite said she was suffering form a hormonal-based illness known as Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD.

Earlier this week, in a post to thousands of followers, he said: “'You know you’re going through a serious bout of depression when you eat a full box of Curiously Cinnamon cereal and cry at a Balsam Hill artificial Xmas tree advert... I'm signing off.”

Messages of support soon started to flood in.

One user said: “Don't sign off. We flipping love you. Keep talking if you can, big community here looking out for you.”

While another added: “Please look after yourself, you are important to your family and friends ... and fans. Sending big hugs.”

In the past he has spoken about how his success on the BBC cooking show had impacted on his mental health as he felt less relevant year by year.