Candice is not unfamiliar with sport. Before Bake Off , she was a PE teacher, but running was never her first choice of ways to stay fit. “I’ve always run on and off ,” she says. “But I was never a natural. I’m more of a team sports player – I love netball and football – or I like going to the gym.”
Which begs the question: why did she run this year’s Virgin Money London Marathon? “I got asked to be an ambassador for Alzheimer’s Research UK,” she says. “My granddad, Fred, had Alzheimer’s. My grandparents were married for nearly 60 years and I saw my grandma’s heart break. When I was asked to run in aid of Dementia Revolution, a year-long campaign between Alzheimer’s Society and Alzheimer’s Research UK, I said yes straight away. I find running hard, but the reasons for doing it are so much bigger than me. Granddad’s dementia had a devastating impact on him, his friends and family, and I want to raise funds to make sure fewer hearts are broken in the future.”