Bake Off winner Candice Brown says her mental health has deteriorated in the last two years

GREAT British Bake Off champion Candice Brown has revealed her mental health has deteriorated in the last two years, with her OCD worse than ever.

The baker, who won the Channel 4 show in 2016, made the candid remarks in a new interview.

Candice, 36, previously revealed she had been diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in January last year.

And since the start of the pandemic, Candice said she’s felt herself struggling with the condition.

Speaking about her ADHD, Candice said: “It is so much worse now.

“It’s so, so much worse now. My mental health has taken a huge dip the last couple of years.”

Describing the condition, she continued: “The lateness, and the buzzing around, and the forgetfulness causes me so much stress and anxiety, which then makes it worse.

“People are sort of saying at the moment, ‘We know you’re quite bad because we’re struggling to be with you.’

“And then I spend my time apologising because I’ve either forgotten something, or I’m, ‘Oh, yeah, s**t, I’m just doing that.’

“One of the things I said as soon as I was diagnosed was that I don’t want to be medicated, but I’m working with psychiatrists and I know I have to be because it’s causing me more stress and more trouble than I can cope with at the moment.

“And that’s me also going ‘I’m not ashamed’.”

Talking on The Secret To…podcast, Candice went on to recall her experience of being on medication and said it didn’t work for her.

She explained: “I’ve been on antidepressants and medications and things that have turned me into an absolute zombie and it’s not nice and it does dull the bits about me that I do like.

“One of the things with me and the ADHD and the anxiety, and when they battle - and they really fight against each other - is I can get up and I can have four hours to do what I’ve got to do to get somewhere that takes me 20 minutes.

“Ten minutes before I need to be where I am, I have not done what I need to do, I have not left.

“And I got to a point where I was just in tears going, ‘Do you understand how exhausting it is and how tiring it is trying?’

“I try so hard but I’m still failing to do simple tasks like get somewhere on time.”

After winning the Bake Off five years ago, Candice has gone on to become a successful TV baker and has written best-selling cookbooks.

The north London born baker also owns and runs The Green Man pub in Eversholt, Bedfordshire.