Luis Troyano, a former contestant on “The Great British Bakeoff,” has died from cancer at age 48.
His manager, Anne Kibel, announced the news on Twitter.
“Sadly, my lovely client lost his brave fight against Oesophageal cancer last week,” she wrote. “A fantastic man with a love of baking that saw him get to the finals of GBBO, write a wonderful book, Bake It Great and do so much more. Always in our thoughts.”
The show also tweeted a message of condolence.
“We are deeply saddened to hear that Luis Troyano has passed away. It was a huge honour and pleasure to have him in the Bake Off Tent for Series Five. Our condolences and thoughts go out to his friends and family.”
Troyano was a graphic designer from Poynton, England. He competed on season 5 of the baking competition show in 2014, finishing as a runner-up finalist, and he went on to write a book, “Bake it Great.”
His fellow season 5 finalist, Richard Burr, also shared a message on Twitter in honor of his friend.
“I am so sad to have lost Luis,” he wrote. “He was a man who took a double helping of everything life had to offer. Fearless, friendly and cheerfully grumpy. I will miss him.”
Troyano often shared photos of his beautiful baked goods on Instagram, showing off his elaborately decorated cakes, cupcakes and breads.
Troyano was an active supporter of the charity Stand Up to Cancer. In 2018, he announced he would be auctioning off the apron he wore during the Bake Off final to benefit the organization.
A Just Giving page has been started to honor his memory and to raise funds for Macmillan Cancer Support. The page includes a message from Troyano before he passed.
“A special thank you to Macmillan Cancer Support, East Cheshire Hospice and the NHS including Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust, The Christie NHS Foundation Trust and Stockport NHS Foundation Trust for trying to save my life and their tireless work to try and eliminate cancer,” he wrote. “But more importantly a massive thank you to all the amazing professionals who really did try their absolute best for me, showed me absolute compassion and gave me more time than what was seemingly possible. I thank you sincerely.”