Fans love tank top, says star baker

Great British Bake Off contestant James Morton has admitted he is surprised by his new-found sex symbol status - and insisted it is all down to his choice of tank top.

The Glasgow medical student, 21, has become a hit with thousands of fans of the BBC2 show, in which amateur bakers battle it out in front of judges Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood.

James told the Radio Times that being labelled a heartthrob was "hilarious", adding: "I had 60 Twitter followers before, now I have nearly 15,000. It all started after the third episode when I got 'star' baker and wore a tank top - I think people confused their attraction to the tank top with liking me.

"The Fair Isle jumpers were a deliberate decision as I'm a proud Shetlander. They did get a bit smelly after a long day's filming in that warm tent, I must confess."

Meanwhile, fellow amateur baker Brendan Lynch, 63, has revealed the show's contestants got a telling off from TV producers for helping each other.

"There was a good sense of camaraderie and support. We were often ticked off for wandering over to one another and offering advice.

"In the end they gave up trying to keep us apart because we would always find a way of meeting up by the fridge surreptitiously," he said.

James is not the only person on the Bafta-winning TV show to have attracted sex symbol status.

Last month, "master baker" Hollywood dubbed his heartthrob reputation "embarrassing, flattering" and "quite silly".