GREAT British Bake-off star Christine Wallace has spoken of her disappointment after she was sent home from the prime-time baking show.

The Didcot grandmother said she had an amazing time and made “friends for life” among her fellow contestants.

And she said her fellow contestants had already agreed to a reunion at her home after the last episode screens on October 22.

Mrs Wallace, 67, made it through to the quarter-final of the show, which aired on Tuesday night, but was sent home by the judges after disappointing the judges in a meringue challenge.

The show was filmed earlier this year, and the former fashion company worker had to stay tight-lipped about how far she had got.

Now she has broken her silence – and she said she had enjoyed watching the show with her husband Rob.

Mrs Wallace said: “Obviously we don’t see the programmes before they go out and they’re all edited, so there are things I remembered which I had forgotten at the time and some of the things which I remember had been edited out.

“It’s been an amazing experience – the best experience of my life by a mile. It’s been fun, stressful, I’ve made friends for life and I would do it all again tomorrow.

“The atmosphere on-set is exactly as you see it.

“We help each other out, lend each other things and give each other advice. Ultimately it is a competition and you are trying to get as far as you can, but all the contestants got on well and gelled right from the start.”

She added that she had been disappointed to have to leave the show, but was pleased to have got so far.

She said: “I was very disappointed but it was very close.

“I would have liked to have got through to the final, but this is a huge BBC programme on national television and I feel happy and proud that I was on it in the first place and made it so far.”

Now she is looking forward to the reunion with her former contestants. She said: “We’re having a reunion at the end of the month, the Saturday after the final. Everybody wanted to come to Oxfordshire, so they’re all coming to mine and we’re going out for a meal. It’s going to be great.”

Throughout the airing of the show, Mrs Wallace has had the unwavering support of her niece Hannah Wilson, who first encouraged her to enter the competition. Mrs Wallace said: “She hasn’t been watching it with me because they live down near Gatwick, but she rang me after every programme and gave me feedback. She’s doing a lot of baking herself now.”

Mrs Wallace said baking would continue to be a passion, and she looked forward to watching the rest of the show – although she knows who wins.