Great British Bake-Off Fan-Favorite Contestant Luis Troyano Is Dead At 48

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A fan-favorite of The Great British Bake-Off fame has passed away. Luis Troyano, who made an impression on viewers as the runner-up of Season 5, died in late October after a battle with cancer. The baker and author was 48-years-old at the time of his death.

Luis Troyano died following a fight against esophageal cancer, according to his manager on Twitter, who remembers him as "a fantastic man with a love of baking." In addition to tying for second in Season 5 of The Great British Bake-Off (known as The Great British Baking Show on Netflix), Troyano wrote a book called Bake It Great and appeared on online cooking shows to lend his expertise.

A JustGiving fundraiser page has been set up in memory of Luis Troyano in support of Macmillan Cancer Support. The page includes a message from Troyano himself prior to his death. He said:

A special thankyou to Macmillan Cancer Support, East Cheshire Hospice and the NHS including Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust, The Christie NHS Foundation Trust and Stockport NHS Foundation Trust for trying to save my life and their tireless work to try and eliminate cancer. But more importantly a massive thank you to all the amazing professionals who really did try their absolute best for me, showed me absolute compassion and gave me more time than what was seemingly possible. I thank you sincerely.

On the JustGiving page, his wife, Louise Troyano, remembered her late husband by saying that his life "was a blessing," his memory is "a treasure," he is "loved beyond words and missed beyond measure." At the time of writing, the fundraiser has not only hit its goal of £1000, but exceeded it by more than 185% to hit more than £2800, with donations from 157 people so far.

Luis Troyano's death resulted in members of the Great British Bake-Off family taking to social media to share their condolences. Paul Hollywood, who served as judge on Troyano's season of Great British Bake-Off, shared this on Instagram:

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Sue Perkins, who served as one of the original presenters on The Great British Bake-Off before leaving, was part of Luis Troyano's season of the show, and she too took to social media with thoughts about him in the wake of his death.

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A particularly touching message dedicated to Luis Troyano came from Martha Collison, who was a quarter-finalist in The Great British Bake-Off Season 5. Then only 17-years-old, Collison was the youngest person in the GBBO season, and she has nothing but kind words for her former competitor.

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The official Twitter account for The Great British Bake-Off posted a tribute to Luis Troyano as well, commending him for what he brought to the show in the fifth season.

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Our sympathies here at CinemaBlend are with the family, friends, and loved ones of Luis Troyano in this difficult time. He is survived by his wife, Louise, and he will surely be remembered by members of the Great British Bake-Off family as well as fans.

You can watch (or rewatch) Luis Troyano's season of The Great British Bake-Off streaming on Netflix now, as "Collection 1" of The Great British Baking Show.

Laura Hurley
Senior Content Producer

Laura turned a lifelong love of television into a valid reason to write and think about TV on a daily basis. She's not a doctor, lawyer, or detective, but watches a lot of them in primetime. CinemaBlend's resident expert and interviewer for One Chicago, the galaxy far, far away, and a variety of other primetime television. Will not time travel and can cite multiple TV shows to explain why. She does, however, want to believe that she can sneak references to The X-Files into daily conversation (and author bios).