Younger cooks
in mix as Bake
Off generation
comes of age
Nazi camp survivor, 98,
seeks his old comrades
Tourette’s punchline
is no joke for charity
A FORMER soldier, who was
locked up for five years dur-
ing the Second World War
despite two escape bids, is
searching for fellow survi-
vors of the Nazi camps.
Jimmy Johnstone, 98, was
captured by the Germans
after the battle for Saint-
Valery-en-Caux in northern
France in June 1940.
He was taken to slave la-
bour camps in Poland and
Germany with thousands of
other British troops on a
“death march”.
Mr Johnstone, who lives
in Aberdeen, was forced to
load coal onto trucks in the
camps, with “just watery
soup and a loaf between five
men” for food.
In June 1943, he and a
friend went on the run for a
fortnight disguised as Polish
civilians. Two years later, on
a march to a camp in Ger-
many, he made a second bid
for freedom. Mr Johnstone
said: “People say, ‘Jimmy,
you’ve got sheer bloody de-
termination’.”
Ex-prisoners or relatives
willing to speak to him are
asked to contact the Scottish
War Blinded charity.NARK BOURDILLON/CHANNELBy Daily Telegraph
Reporter
A TOURETTE’S charity has
demanded an apology from a
comedian after his joke ref-
erencing the syndrome was
deemed the “best joke” at
this year’s Edinburgh Fringe
Festival.
Olaf Falafel, a veteran per-
former at the festival,
claimed the honour of Dave’s
Funniest Joke with a vegeta-
ble pun.
His winning joke is: “I
keep randomly shouting out
‘broccoli’ and ‘cauliflower’ –
I think I might have florets.”
Suzanne Dobson, of the
UK’s Tourettes Action char-
ity, said the “rubbish” joke
had brought “shame” on
Dave, the TV channel that
sponsors the award.
Ms Dobson said: “Humour
is a great way of educating
people – but not only is it not
funny to poke fun at people
with Tourette’s, it’s not even
that funny a joke, is it?”
She added that the charity
had been about to launch a
campaign asking people to
stop using the syndrome as a
punchline.
Ms Dobson said the chari-
ty’s helpline had several calls
yesterday from parents of
children with the syndrome
who were upset by the joke.
The vegetable pun was
deemed the best gag by
2,000 voting members of
the public, after being short-
listed by an expert panel. It
saw off competition fromjokes about nepotism, sema-
phore, anti-depressants,
Brexit and cowboys.
Meanwhile, Falafel com-
pared taking part in the
Fringe with pregnancy, say-
ing that each year was pain-
ful, but then the pain fades
and he decides to do it again.
The Swedish comedian has
performed at seven festivals.News
A vegetable
pun won Olaf
Falafel the
coveted best
joke award at
the Fringeout the best bakers. She said: “The
main thing they want to know is that
they’re getting the best bakers in the
country.” In 2015, while still hosted by
BBC Two, the line-up of bakers re-
ceived criticism for being too “PC”.
A spokesman for Love Productions
said: “That more young people are ap-
plying possibly reflects a generation
who have grown up watching Bake Off
over the last 10 years.”
Tom Harrington, aof Enders Analy-
sis, said Channel 4 hoped to widen the
show’s appeal to younger viewers who
are moving to online viewing.
While the contestants get younger,
Hollywood and Leith have said they
wish to continue their tenure o into old
age, or at least to match former judges.
Leith said: “My ambition is not so
ambitious. I just want to at least equal
Mary Berry, she did seven years. I’ve
got another four years to go.”By Jessica Carpani
THE Great British Bake Off has un-
veiled its youngest line-up ever for its
forthcoming series, with half of the
show’s contestants in their 20s.
The youngest of the contestants is
just 20, and the average age of 31 is four
years younger than in previous series.
Love Productions, the makers of the
show, said they had more young people
apply this year as the hobby of baking
grows in popularity.
They are also said to be keen to at-
tract younger viewers from streaming
services such as Netflix.
Paul Hollywood, the lead judge who
came with the show after its move to
Channel 4 from BBC Two in 2017, said
young people increasingly viewed bak-
ing as a “cool” pastime.
“Baking has become such a cool
thing to do, and if you’re a girl, a young
lad, if you can bake, you’ll get friends –
always,” he said.
Celebrating a decade of the popular
baking competition, which returns this
month, producers have done away
with the usual 12 contestants in favour
of a baker’s dozen of 13.
The eldest is Phil, 56-year-old HGV
driver, and there is only one other con-
testant over the age of 40.
Six are in their 20s, including Rosie,
a 28-year-old vet, whose puddings are
often inspired by the rural surround-
ings of her Somerset home.
Meanwhile, two contestants were
just 10 when Bake Off first began and
have grown up watching the show.
Henry, 20, became fascinated with
the show when series two was filmed at
his local park. He said: “I used to see
Paul Hollywood when I walked past to
go to school in the mornings, so I really
got into it.
“I told Paul I remembered him film-
ing series two. So he knew I had come
full circle and was now in the Tent, and
that was pretty special.”
Prue Leith, the other judge, said that
The Great British Bake Off on Channel 4
was not trying to find “the right ethnic
mix” but is only interested in seeking
The 13 contenders
for the coveted title
in its 10 series are
the youngest ever.
Below, Hollywood
and Leith with
presenters Noel
Fielding and Sandi
ToksvigThe Daily Telegraph Tuesday 20 August 2019 *** 7
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