The Great British Bake Off winner Peter Sawkins has clarified that he does not “identify as LGBTQ+” after fans thought he came out on social media.
The 21-year-old, who won the Channel 4 baking show in 2020, delighted fans as he shared a compilation of clips on Instagram last week from a recent holiday.
In various parts of the video, which is soundtracked by the song “I Found You” by Stephen Sanchez, Sawkins appears to be holding hands with a man.
Many of his followers interpreted this post as Sawkins coming out, flooding the comments section with rainbow emojis.
“Well I didn’t see that coming. Delightful. Congratulations!” Bake Off host Matt Lucas wrote.
However, on Monday (20 June), Sawkins posted a “clarification” to his Instagram Stories, explaining that he was “trying to address this with sensitivity and kindness”.
“I recently posted a reel from my holiday. Some news sites and comments celebrated this as me coming out, and I can appreciate how this has happened. However, this is not the case,” he wrote.
“I do not identify as LGBTQ+. I fully support the LGBTQ+ community and will try to be an ally as best as I can.”
The Scottish baker continued: “Representation within the LGBTQ+ community across society is incredibly important. This is why I felt the need to clarify in this story. Written with love, Peter.”
When Sawkins won Bake Off, he was the show’s youngest ever champion.
