A Canberran will feature in the upcoming season of The Great Australian Bake Off.

Kelarnie Whalen, 23, is one of 12 amateur bakers to feature on the spin-off of the BBC’s The Great British Bake Off. She is the youngest contestant this season.

Kelarnie said taking part in the show was one of the most stressful and overwhelming things she has ever done.

“It’s just crazy. All your emotions are so heightened,” she told CD.

“Then right now looking back, I’m like, ‘Oh, that was the coolest experience.’

“I think it’s just so stressful. You’re constantly getting compared to others; you’ve got the judges comparing you and then you’re comparing yourself to others.”

Kelarnie clearly remembers her first bake on the show.

“I got it done, then I looked over to everyone else’s and I was like, ‘Mine’s nothing compared to theirs,’” she said.

“I remember the day after we had a break and at the end of the day, I was like, ‘I need to rewrite every recipe I’ve ever done for the show.’”

She said it was also a cool experience for the contestants to put their own spin on the bakes.

“From your bakes, you see a bit of everyone’s personalities,” Kelarnie said.

“Throughout the bakes, you get a little bit more of an understanding of why people are baking something.

“You get to show little stories within the bakes.

“There are a few things I do that are an ode to my family to showcase it through that, which my sister doesn’t even know yet, so it’ll be a little surprise for her to see.”

Kelarnie initially planned to apply to be on Gogglebox Australia.

“I thought, ‘That sounds like a perfect show.’ I love yapping and so do my friends and I think we’re the funniest humans ever,” she said.

“So I was like no brainer, perfect for Gogglebox.

“Then I did nothing about it, and my friend came home with a quote that said, ‘If you don’t knock on the door, it won’t open,’ and I was like, that’s so true. Gogglebox isn’t going to call me unless I apply.”

When she saw that applications were closed, she had a look at what other shows were casting. That’s when she came across The Great Australian Bake Off.

Midway through the process of applying, she received an email from production encouraging her to finish her application.

“If they didn’t do that, I definitely wouldn’t be on it,” she said.

Kelarnie has been baking from a young age.

“It was the thing to do when you’re a young girl that wanted a sweet treat: just go and bake and get a packet mix,” she said.

“There are photos of me roller skating while baking cupcakes.

“I look at it now and I’m like, ‘They’re the ugliest cupcakes I’ve ever seen in my life.’”

She said it continued from there. “It just kept going. I’ve just always been more into the classic brownie, just things that I enjoy eating,” Kelarnie said.

“The most technical thing I was doing at a young age was macarons because I was obsessed with eating them. They were my favourite things to eat, so I was like, ‘Obviously I’ll just learn how to make them so I can have them constantly.’

“That just seemed like a no-brainer to me.”

She said it then became a way to connect with people.

“I’d always be the one to ask, ‘Can I bake you a birthday cake? Can I make you this?’” she said.

“I’d come back to Canberra and I’m bringing 30 cookies in my suitcase to give to people.

“It’s just my kind of way of showing people that I love them.

“I’ve always been the person who makes the desserts for the family.”

Kelarnie is originally from Canberra and has also lived in the Solomon Islands. When not baking, she works for Canberra business Keane Consulting as a recruitment consultant.

She has been in Brisbane for the past 18 months, where she is studying a dual Diploma of Sport and Diploma of Leadership and Management through the Brisbane Lions Football Club.

Kelarnie isn’t the first Canberran to feature on the show; Bojan Petrovic was a contestant in season three in 2016.

You can follow Kelarnie’s baking adventures on Instagram (@platesivebaked) and TikTok (@kelarnie).

The Great Australian Bake Off will screen on Foxtel and BINGE from 29 July at 7:30pm.

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