The Great British Baking Show Breakthrough Chigs Parmar tells people about filming the series distributed by Netflix, his relationship with other bakers, and his next steps

Chirag "Chigs" Parmar is an open book-well, at least before talking about his relationship status.

The 40-year-old sales manager became a star at the British Baking Show this season, thanks to his skilled baking skills and amazing smile. Although he is happy to talk about all this during the long Zoom call with PEOPLE, he will not confirm or deny anything about his romantic life (despite our best efforts).

Perhaps this is what makes Parma more worthy of crushing. He is very smart, knowing that without saying anything, he leaves a chance for everyone.

"I just enjoy this baking show," Palma said of the beloved Netflix series. "Life is good now."

Person: Congratulations on all your successes! Palma: Thank you! To be honest, I am proud of myself. In fact, I started baking such a short time ago and have the courage to show myself in front of the British public. You kind souls are watching my journey across the pond? marvelous.

Many of us support you because you are a novice and just started baking at the height of the coronavirus pandemic. You said in the show that you learned how to bake by watching YouTube videos? correct. The real way to start was when my brother-in-law came to live in my house because their house in London was being renovated. He brought some sourdough appetizers, so I tried it and said, "I want to start baking sourdough."

Ah, just like the rest of the world at that time. right! I have been doing this for a few weeks and I am a little addicted. Finally I said, "Let me try something else", and I started making cookies. Then I heard about these biscuits from Levain Bakery in New York. They are big and chewy, so I started making them. Then after that, cupcakes. Then, another baker from New York, Dominique Ansel (Dominique Ansel) opened a bakery in London. My friend said, "We need to go", so we went there and tried his DKA and cronuts. And all his other Choux pastries and similar things. I brought a bunch of them back to Leicester, where I came from, and then started to separate them and think about how to make them. I will watch YouTube videos to try to figure it out. I just indulge in it and do it one by one.

Related: He invented Cronut, and now Dominique Ansel explains how to make the perfect mini Madeline

Which YouTube videos did you watch in particular? Would you recommend any? Joshua Weissman is one of them, and the other is Cupcake Jemma. In fact, I was fortunate enough to meet her at her cupcake shop in London a few weeks ago. When I met her, I was star-studded. I actually said to her, "Thanks to you, I am here because I watched all your videos." So when I met her, I gave her a big hug and thanked her.

Man, it must be fun to be your friend while you are doing all the pop baking...everyone said to me,'Why don't you add to the burden when making this kind of food during the lockdown period? I am a very active person, so I am a person who likes outdoor activities very much. But I almost never eat anything I bake. I bake it, taste it, and then give it to my family, my friends, and charity.

The baker is a generous person! I come from a very foodie family. It all stems from my mother. My mother is happiest when feeding people. I think this is what I learned from there. When you grow up, if you come to my house, my mother won't let you go if you don't feed you. She was still like that, and mine was like that; when I went to visit her, you were full.

How long was your baking journey before you applied for the baking show? I started applying in March and November. My sister and my friends are like,'Why don't you apply? I thought,'Well, I have nothing to lose, and it's okay. One thing led to another, I was in the tent.

Related: The Great British Baking Show: The 2021 season ends with a historic winner

Of course you are doing well. In fact, you, Giuseppe, and Crystelle have all reached the finals evenly matched, having won the Star Baker Award twice before and the coveted "Paul Hollywood Handshake" twice-this is the first in the history of the baking show Second-rate. Do you have a successful baking in the competition, you are thinking, "Will this be a mess?" That will be my layered slices-cherry, chocolate and vanilla slices I made [during Pastry Week]. If I show you some pictures from my exercises, they are definitely a mess. Even in the practice tent, they are not so good. I had to change a lot of elements because the taste balance was not right and the texture was not right. When I entered the actual tent to deliver them on the actual day, they were the best they had ever seen. For me, this is my best baking in 10 weeks. When I took that out, I was ecstatic.

Is there a challenge that makes you particularly scared? Every technical challenge. Because of my lack of experience, that's where I fell. Walking in, I watched a lot of videos on how to make basic knowledge: how to make basic cakes, basic bread, basic biscuits, basic pastry dough. But what shocked me the most was Chiba Dough at Pastry Week. We were all talking, and the baker said,'They can't let us make Chiba pastry. What's the point? 'Then what do they let us do? Make baklava with our own phyllo. I thought,'What should I do?

You did a great job, you are in third place! I remember that Jamie Oliver had watched some old videos when he went to Greece, and he asked this old Greek woman to make Chiba pastries there. Everyone is rolling it, but I stretch and pull it like her. The result is great!

It's impressive, you remember it. I learn quickly. I only need to watch it once or do it once, and I will remember it. I always learn from my mistakes.

This is really a surprise, technical staff? You don't know what it is. They keep all this very secret, and they don't even let you walk around the tent while setting up the tent. When you pick up the checkered cloth, you see this recipe for the first time. The more weeks you are there, the more difficult the challenge and the fewer instructions that appear.

Related: Prue Leith inadvertently made an NSFW comment, and Paul Hollywood couldn’t agree

It seems that the most difficult challenge this season is the glass dome of Caramel Week, which is simply a nightmare. At home, I experienced 2 kg. With sugar [approximately 4.5 pounds], I cannot make a dome. I talked to the food manufacturer and said, "Look, I can't do it." But when I entered the practice tent, everyone was talking about this isomalt. I thought,'What exactly is isomalt? Let me try it. The mistake I made was to double the balloon, I should only use one balloon, it will be thinner. You live and learn!

It's also very hot inside. Why don't you sweat every day when you wear clothes...I don't sweat much anyway, so I'm fine. But you have to wear the same clothes every day, so after each episode, I will go to the laundry room, take off my clothes and throw them into the washing machine.

Is it difficult to decide what to wear every day? I brought a lot of clothes. I love my clothes, I love fashion, and I have always loved fashion. I grew up among women, and my sister is also a dresser. So I have a lot of clothes out there, because even if I don't know how far I am going, I want to have choices. Last year people said they ran out of clothes. I don't want to take this risk! I also brought 13 pairs of [sports shoes] because I am a huge sports toe.

Jürgen’s being eliminated, are you as surprised as the fans? A lot. The week that Jürgen was eliminated, my technical challenge was the weakest, and I was ranked last. That was the first day. That night, I packed my luggage and prepared to go home. Then I said, "I want to go out on a swing" because I want to go out and have a delicious meal. I thought I was going home that week, so when I heard Jürgen's name was called? You can see it in the show, my face.

You are emotional! Jurgen is like my Yoda to me. He taught me a lot of things, and for this, I pay tribute to him. He was an absolutely sincere and truly amazing person; he got a heart of gold. His baking knowledge is exciting. He knows everything until a science. I would sit there and listen to him, because I lack experience in baking and absorb everything he says like a sponge. I think I was very excited when he left because he helped me a lot. So why in the last episode, I had to give him a shot, because when I made mushrooms, he taught me how to fold bread.

Related: The Great British Baking Show is shocking! Front runner Jurgen Klaus was eliminated in the semifinals

Where is Giuseppe? Are you surprised to see him winning? Not at all, he is a well-deserved winner. He is the most stable baker on the show, everything he does is very precise, which comes from his engineering background. Giuseppe is also the kindest person I have ever met. He bake with passion, everything he bake comes from the heart. I like the story of his baking in memory of his father, because his father was a professional baker. This resonated with me because I lost my father when I was very young. I like what he is doing. He is very family oriented, and so am I. Thanks to my mother, grandma and aunt, I started cooking when I was 10 years old.

I still can't believe his kid doesn't know that he is performing! They don't even know he won! We watched the finale together, and the faces of his children were absolutely amazing. You know, every night after we finish baking, I listen to Giuseppe calling and talk to his three children in Italian. This is one of the cutest things ever, and talking to people like Giuseppe. I am very happy to meet him. We will be friends for life.

All the bakers seem to be so close. we are! Because of COVID, we are actually living in a bubble. They were also in a bubble last year, but since COVID is new, it was much stricter at the time. We get up, have breakfast together, bake together, have lunch together, have dinner together...At night, we really went out to play and it was cold. That's it, well, I lived there for 7 weeks, so we established a connection. I really made 11 new friends, and I don’t think I would say these at my age. We talk to each other every week; some of them I talk to them on What's App every day. We meet regularly, it's evil, and we have all met each other's family, which is really great. Hope this will continue.

Well, the contestants of the baking show always say, "Once you participate in the show, you are a member of this family." When they first said this to me, I didn't quite understand it, but now I understand it completely.

Related: The Great British Baking Show: Every hot question, answer

Speaking of family, anyone who follows you on social media can see how close you are to them. How did they react? My mother may be the proudest person I have ever met her. Everything is worth it just by seeing her face. My grandparents were ecstatic. My grandfather is almost 95 years old now, and he has always been the father in my heart. Every time someone went to see him, he would show them my newspaper article, "That's my grandson."

It's so cute to see you and your nephew together. Do you like being an uncle? Absolutely. Emil is like my partner in crime. He just turned 3 a few weeks ago and we had a nice small birthday party for him. For me, he made everything evil. If you have a problem, you go to him and everything is fine. But when he [behaves] get up, I will return him to my sister, like, "That's your child, not mine" [laughs]. He is a godsend, he is absolutely amazing. I have two other nephews, Mylan and Lucan-they are slightly older, 5 and 6 years old, so I like to spend time with my nephew. The best thing ever.

That's great; that's so sweet! I did a lot of things I like to take risks, such as backpacking in Europe and skydiving in Dubai, partly because I want my nephews to look at my photos and say, "I want to be like Uncle Chigs." When Kenya came to England, he traveled around Europe alone. In those days, especially as an immigrant, traveling around must be daunting. But when I was a kid, I remember seeing all the pictures around and thinking, "I want to do that." So I wanted to do this for my nephews. I hope they look at me and think beyond their world.

Wow, so touched! Also I will be irritable [laughs]. I can't sit still. I also get bored easily. If I am not actively doing something, that is when I get up to play a prank. I am more willing to do things that make me a better person and individual.

Related: Meet Chigs Parmar: The Breakout Star of the Great British Baking Show

If I don’t ask this obvious follow-up question, fans will kill me: Are you single? Are you in love? Because you will be a good dad! [Laughs] I want to keep my private life a secret, and I have a private life. But sooner or later you will find...

Okay, but you must realize that you are everyone's baking show fan, men and women are the same? Did your DM explode? [Laughs] Yes, I am flattered; receiving such information is always flattering. I am a very humble person. I have a great group of friends around me, and a great family, they give me a lot of support, so when I receive these comments, I will not make a fuss. But it was overwhelming and everyone supported me in this whole thing. I have people from Hawaii, Costa Rica, India, France, Italy-I can't believe my name will be called by all these countries. This is very good.

It will take some time to adapt. It does exist, and I haven't been there yet. When the show was first announced, my phone started to explode and I received news. That's one thing, but for me now, traveling to the supermarket is completely different. I asked [baking show hosts Matt Lucas and Noel Fielding] what to expect from the show, and they all told me to sit down and say, "The strangest thing is that people recognize you on the street." When it When it first started happening, I went to Sainsbury's-a local supermarket and one of the largest in the UK-just to buy some baked goods, and people came to me and said,'You are Chigs, aren't you? you? 'I'm really embarrassed, really shy! Even though I was wearing a mask, people recognized me. I thought,'How did you do it? I also wear a baseball cap! [Laughs] I must be frowning.

How long after the baking show do you want to start baking again? After the last episode, on the walk back to the hotel, I said to Crystalle and Giuseppe,'I don't want to eat cake anymore. If someone asked me to bake a cake, I would scream in front of them. But three days later, I baked some biscuits at my sister's house in London.

Oh, you did not waste time! I want to continue baking because I don't want to rust. I want to continue learning everything I learned in the tent. Even now, I hope I can continue to bake every day.

Related: The Great British Baking Show: The Holidays Return to Issue 4-Watch the trailer!

Are you still doing your usual work? Yes! What happened was that in October of last year, I left a job where I had worked for 16 years, did a headhunting for my current job, and started work there in December of the same year. But a week before I started my new job, I applied for the Baking Show. Three weeks after the start of my new job, I received a call. So I had to tell my boss,'I have participated in the baking show. I know that I have only worked here for a short time, but I may need a 7-week vacation. My workplace has always been very supportive and they are absolutely great. Thank you very much for everything they have done for me.

Do you think you will make your own YouTube videos to help amateur bakers? This is what I am thinking about. My background has always been sales, and I have been doing ordinary work from 9 to 5 every day. You are caught in fierce competition. Baking helped me get out of my predicament, and now, after the Baking Show, I receive a lot of information on social media about how I motivate people to do different things. This is overwhelming. I never thought that the young me from Leicester would have an impact. So I haven't planned what I want to do, but this is what I want to pursue. I really want to teach people what I have learned, and if I can, I will encourage people. Even if I can help someone, my job is done.

What is your biggest advice to amateur bakers? Bake what you like. When I started baking, I chose the foods and flavors that I had eaten as a kid. Appropriate nostalgia, such as cookies-I have loved cookies since I was a kid. The first cupcake I made was oatmeal and milk flavored. I heated the oatmeal in milk and then made the cupcakes with milk. I also use a lot of strawberries and chocolate, which show up a lot in my baking, because I am a huge chocolate freak. So bake something you like to eat.

This is a good suggestion! Don't be afraid to make mistakes. Get out of your comfort zone. Bake what you think you cannot bake, because this is the only way you can learn.

All episodes of The Great British Baking Show are now on Netflix.