With most children being off school due to the coronavirus pandemic, a lot of parents are having to adapt to being teacher and Candice Brown doing Instagram live lessons to do their bit and help. Joe - aka The Body Coach - has been waking the nation up with 9am workouts every week day, meanwhile The Greatest Dancer's Oti is providing dance classes. But perhaps the most fun lesson is from Great British Bake Off winner Candice who is teaching us all how to bake.
Earlier this week, the former teacher completed her first lesson - teaching kids (and grown ups alike) how to cook shortbread. She says, due to the current situation, she has been keen to use recipes which include ingredients that people are likely to already have. ‘I asked what people had in the cupboards,' she tells Grazia over the phone. 'I was a bit mindful that things are eggs that are like bloody gold dust. The interest [in the lessons] was just unbelievable.’
While she might have been a teacher before switching careers following her success on Bake Off, Candice says she was incredibly nervous beforehand: ‘I was absolutely terrified. It was really weird because I demo things like that on stage - and I do get nervous, but this I was really really nervous about.’
When she used to teach, Candice actually used to teach PE - but she says she that's a lesson she's happy for Joe Wicks to do. ‘I thought I'll leave that to him,’ she laughed. ‘One things I do know and enjoy is that baking has always been quite therapeutic as well. It's been quite good for mental health - it’s kind of two birds with one stone really.’
Like a lot of people, the baker - who is open about her experiences with clinical depression, chronic phobia and post-traumatic stress disorder - says that her mental health has taken a 'dip' due to the pandemic, but she tells Grazia that it’s important to remember that we’re all in this together.
‘It’s tough for everybody,’ she says, ‘everyone's kind of in that same boat. And I think those who struggle with mental health possibly are going to struggle a little bit more. And I find it's taken a little bit of a dip. But I think we really just need to remember we're all in this together, we will come out the other side. And it's just a case of finding those little bits of happiness, like whether it's baking or, or reading a book or conversing with someone - from a fair and safe distance.’
Watch Candice's next lesson on April 1 at 2pm, where she will be cooking soda bread. Follow her @candicebrown on Instagram.
READ MORE: Joe Wicks Is Hosting Live PE Classes For Children Missing School