If you’ve got the baking bug since watching ‘The Great British Bake Off’ and fancy applying for next year’s show, we’ve got some inside information on how you can improve your chances of making it onto the Channel 4 show.

Jane Beedle, who made it all the way through to last year’s final, has revealed that you don’t necessarily have to be a whizz at every type of bake, but you do need to master one: bread.

Jane, who was runner-up behind 2016’s eventual winner Candice Brown, says if you can’t do bread, then you might as well forget it.

“Make sure that you have baked most things, with bread being the most important,” she told HuffPost UK.

“Basically you have to be a Jack of all trades. But because Paul [Hollywood] is a bread maker, if you can’t make bread then I think you’d probably make it onto the reject pile straight away.”

Not that an initial rejection should deter you from applying again, as Jane reveals, it took her several attempts.

She says: “For a start fill out that application form and take lots of pictures of your bakes. And don’t give up if you don’t get on the first time.

“Both Candice [Brown] and I, it was our third attempt. Everybody else got on first time, but Candice and I were third time lucky. So just keep trying and keep practicing – and don’t give up.”

If you think you’ve got what it takes, you can apply for next year’s ‘Bake Off’ by visiting applyforbakeoff.co.uk.

Jane is an ambassador for Bake With A Legend, which gives you the chance to attend baking classes led by your favourite contestants from ‘The Great British Bake Off’. For more see www.bakewithalegend.com