Great British Bake Off sends home another contestant as Paul Hollywood gives out handshake

The Great British Bake Off has said goodbye to another contestant after the bakers battled pastry week. With the competition now in its sixth week things are heating up as we're down to just half the bakers we started with.

Sadly it was Clara who saw their dreams flake away after failing to impress judges Paul Hollywood and Nigella Lawson in the Showstopper Challenge.

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On the other end, this week's Star Baker was Tom for the third time so far this season.

As always, the bakers started off with the Signature Challenge, and this week, they were tasked with making eight handheld savoury pies.

Clara was a bit too ambitious with her pies which she intended to serve shaped like deer heads, but it was the design where she went wrong, with the judges saying she should have spent more time on the filling.

Tommy, Connie, and Moyin received the best feedback, with them all bringing international influences to their pies, drawing inspiration from Vietnam, Jamaica, and Nigeria, respectively.

For the Technical Challenge the bakers had to do their take on Nigella's Karpatka, a traditional Polish dessert. They needed to make two layers of "beautifully baked shoe pastry," filled with vanilla custard.

Coming in last place was Clara, who was told her shoe pastry was more like a waffle. At the top of the pile were Tom in second place and Moyin in first, whose pastry "really sang", according to Nigella.

The Showstopper Challenge saw the bakers attempt a freeform pie where they had to shape and bake the pastry without the use of tins.

Tom chose to make a Mexican-inspired chicken pie which was shaped like his "favourite stop-motion chicken" (from Chicken Run). Nigella described the pie as looking like a piece of Aztec art, while Paul was so impressed he gave Tom the coveted Hollywood Handshake.

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But it was more bad news for Clara whose pastry cracked with in the oven, leaving her pecan, apple, and cinnamon pie, which was shaped like the sun and moon, looking a little worse for wear. As for taste, Paul said her pastry was a little too short.

Following her elimination, Clara said she "had a blast," while in the tent. Having previously shared her bipolar diagnosis on the show, Clara added: "I never thought I could do this with my disorder and I hope I can be an inspiration."

Next week the bakers will tackle Party Week.

The Great British Bake Off airs Tuesdays on Channel 4 at 8pm.

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Stephanie is a freelance news writer, who previously covered WWE and AEW for Digital Spy.

After graduating with a degree in history from Queen Mary University, London, she studied journalism at Birkbeck University.

Outside of her work at Digital Spy, she writes about pop culture, with a special focus towards Irish media and how it intersects with politics.