STRICTLY Come Dancing’s John Whaite was left feeling suicidal and quit fame to live on a farm after winning The Great British Bake Off.
The 32-year-old chef won the popular series in 2012, and was confirmed to be the first ever male celeb to be paired in a same-sex couple on Strictly yesterday.
Since finding fame, John has been open about his mental health battle and has discussed suffering from bulimia and suicidal thoughts as recently as 2019.
After Bake Off, he returned to University to do his barrister training but ended up getting pneumonia from stress – leading him to drop out of the law course.
John added: “I kind of felt like I’d failed. And I felt suicidal. I really really did think I was going to end it.”
He recalled sitting down with his partner Paul about needing to escape the UK and “be with nature”, so he relocated to Canada and volunteered on a farm he found through a worldwide programme.
John shared: “They were really strict, it was get up at 6.30, make breakfast, have coffee together, out by 7am, have the animals fed and it really was the most grounding experience because it was… I’m not going to lie, it was privileged escapism.
“There are so many people in this country and in the world who would go through the same mental health issues that I’ve been through and wouldn’t be able to afford to take the time to do that or leave their kids. So I must acknowledge it was privileged, entitled escapism.
“But I was lucky enough that I was able to do it and yeah, working on the farm was just, it was just so grounding, you know to be with animals that we relied entirely on, on me to help them and to feed them and to clean them.”
