Rahul Mandal, the winner of the ninth series of The Great British Bake Off (GBBO), thanked his colleagues for their friendship as he posted an Easter cake photo on Instagram.
Along with a photo of a chocolate and orange cake, decorated with an egg-shaped biscuit, Rahul posted a touching comment to his colleagues.
In it, he thanked them for making him feel a part of their circle.
He said: “During my time in UK, the holidays are the hardest time to spend!
“During weekdays of term time, you have your colleagues and students around during the week, whereas in the weekends especially during holidays … you left on your own!
“It is difficult to be alone! Being an introvert and shy in a new place, it is challenging to trust people and make friends.
“And there are so many people who are there to hurt and make fun of the shy.”
The post received more than 5,000 likes from Rahul’s fans in under two hours.
He added: “Thanks to some of my colleagues, it changed slightly… Thanks for helping me, thanks for making feel a part of your friend’s circle, thanks for tolerating me, thanks for stopping me when I am about to do any mistake!
“This cake is for them, who brought spring to my rather cold and lonely life, thanks a lot!”
Rahul became a favourite on the 2018 series of GBBO after he told the programme that he started baking to make friends when he moved to the UK at the age of 23.