Former Strictly Come Dancing star John Whaite has revealed that he’s shutting down his bakery business after workload struggles and a recent near-death experience
John Whaite has been forced to close his bakery business(Image: Dave J Hogan/Getty Images)
Ex Strictly star and Bake Off winner John Whaite has revealed that he’s shut down his Lancashire bakery after struggling with the workload and being hit by a car. The 36-year-old ran the Ruff Puff Bakehouse at Cedar Farm with his husband Paul Atkins, opening it in Ormskirk last year.
However, John announced on Instagram on Monday that he would be closing it down in what has been a “painful decision” to make. “After a great deal of reflection, we’ve decided to close the Bakehouse and refocus our energy on Ruff Puff brownies,” he said.
“Over the past six months, the pressure of running a bricks-and-mortar bakery has steadily intensified. The workload was relentless, the margins unforgiving, and the emotional toll heavier than we’d allowed ourselves to admit.”
He added that the bakery stress become unmanageable after a recent car accident resulted in him being hospitalised. “More recently being knocked over by a car brought everything into sharp focus,” he explained.
“It was a frightening, physical jolt that forced me to stop – quite literally – and confront the reality that I had been running on empty, pushing to hard, and holding too much together.”
John went onto thank his customers, telling them: “This decision is not a reflection of you or the community around the Bakehouse. It’s about recognising when a model – and a moment – is no longer sustainable.”
The couple will be focusing on their Ruff Puff Brownies business instead after “taking a proper step back to rest and recover”. He added tghat they’ll be relaunching in the autumn.
Last week, John revealed that he had been hit by a car in an accident that “could have been fatal”. Speaking about the incident on Instagram, he said: “I rolled up the bonnet damaging it and the windscreen, before splatting onto the road and crawling to the pavement where some angel of a human threw his coat around me and waited with me for an ambulance.”
He revealed that doctors told him that his “16 stone of muscle” saved him and that he’s now doing OK.
John rose to fame after winning the Great British Bake Off back in 2023, before making history as part of Strictly Come Dancing’s first same-sex couple nine years later.
He competed on the show with Johannes Radebe, coming in second place after losing out to Rose Ayling-Ellis and Giovanni Pernice.
John now lives in Leeds with his husband Paul Atkins, who he wed in New York in 2024.
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